Snowed In
by KitKatTicTac
Summary: After Ranka allows Haruhi to stay over at the twins' estate for the weekend, the weather forecast doesn't look too good, and Haruhi ends up snowed in with the Host Club. A blind Kyoya, a hungry Honey, and an exasperated Haruhi, the Host Club isn't so sure if the mood is worse outside or in. As if that's the biggest problem. After all, Haruhi can't choose more than one Host, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Ello, again! I don't own OHSHC. Bisco Hatori does. I don't own Bisco Hatori, either. Whatever. So once you start sleeping on sharp rocks and drying your hair with your third hand, that's when I will own it. So please, please, please, get comfortable on your sharp rocks and bust out your hair dryers (and third hand)!**

* * *

The two names "Hikaru!" and "Kaoru!" were heard many times throughout the day of Monday, December 17 in Music Room 3 at Ouran Academy from the Host Club king. A few of these were:

"Hikaru! Kaoru! Did you bribe Haruhi with fancy tuna to get her to play your little game?"

"Hikaru! Kaoru! Just what do you think you're doing, tainting my precious daughter's mind like that?"

"Kyoya! Make Hikaru(!) and Kaoru(!) stop whatever they are doing this instant because I am sure it will lead to trouble!"

The Shadow King merely pushed his glasses up the thin bridge of his nose and chuckled. "All they are doing, Tamaki, is reading."

The phrase 'silence is bliss' couldn't be more true in those next few minutes as Tamaki sulked. But as soon as he stepped out of his corner, he went back to what he was doing earlier. But this time, what he said actually made some sense.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! Did you invite little Haruhi to your estate while your parents were gone?"

The twins looked up at the king apathetically.

"Of course we did, boss," they said, in unison first. Then Hikaru continued, with exaggerated drama. "Haruhi has yet to see our property. It's not everyday that a commoner is given the rare chance to be invited to a wealthy person's abode."

"What?" Haruhi's eyes widened as she floundered around for something to say. "I wasn't invited! I never said yes to anything!"

"But your dad did." Hikaru and Kaoru just shrugged off the young girl's protests. "You're supposed to be coming after school today. Our driver's going to pick you up."

"What about _your_ parents?" Haruhi said stubbornly.

"They loved the idea. They're almost like Tamaki-senpai when it comes to commoners. Besides, they're going to be out of town, they have a meeting with the owner of a hotel."

Haruhi groaned while Tamaki shrieked in rage and jealousy.

"But that's no _fair_! I wanted to invite her over to my place for the holidays!"

"Do you really think that if I don't want to go over to the twins' place I want to go over to yours, senpai?" Haruhi said pitilessly glaring daggers at Tamaki.

"Think about it Tama-chan!" Honey looked up at his younger. "Ranka-san doesn't like you that much. He wouldn't let Haru-chan go over to your estate!"

"He thinks you're a nasty pedophile," the twins added with a Cheshire Cat grin. "He would let Haruhi go with you over his cold, dead body."

"No!" Tamaki leaped to Kyoya and shook him vigorously by the arm, causing his glasses to fall off. "Mother, do something! Who knows what Tweedledee and Tweedledum over there could do to Haruhi!"

"I don't care what 'Tweedledee' and 'Tweedledum' will do to Haruhi. Now get me my glasses, you idiot, I can't find them."

Tamaki reluctantly picked up Kyoya's glasses and immediately imagined sudden death when he saw one cracked lens and the other missing.

"Um... Kyoya, how good is your vision without your glasses?"

"Everything's blurry and I can barely see without them."

"Uh oh!" Honey clutched his rabbit and widened his eyes. His head was tilted a bit. "Tama-chan broke them!"

"NO! I mean, no, I didn't! I'm just saying, these glasses are really fashionable, and I'd like to wear them until you get a different pair so I can keep these ones, youknowwhatI'mtalkingaboutKyoyaaa?"

Tamaki spat out these last seven words as if they were one giant word, drawing out the "a" until his voice rose to a squeak.

"Now seems like a great time to leave." Hikaru said to Kaoru and Haruhi.

The trio slowly tiptoed out the door. Even Haruhi, who was logical and didn't believe in the Low Blood Pressure Demon Lord knew she would rather be with the twins than with a raging Kyoya.

* * *

**Heyo! Please excuse the short chapter; consider it more like a prologue. This is the best way I could end it, for now. Thanks for reading, and... REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

The twins and Haruhi ran clear to the front of the school, out of breath and barely alive. They talked between gasps.

"Why... did we run... you idiots?" Haruhi asked.

"Because... it's our fault... Tamaki-senpai was shaking Kyoya-senpai... so we're just as dead as he is!"

They leaned against a wall to catch their breath. Haruhi didn't really see what was the big deal about Kyoya-senpai turning on _them. _It wasn't their fault Tamaki shook the shadow king and knocked his glasses off.

Haruhi checked the time. It was almost time for school to let out. Then she would have to subject herself to a full weekend with the twins. The only thing she was worried about was _everything. _This was Hikaru and Kaoru. Anything would go with them. As far as she knew, the twins may have packed her a miniskirt and a tank top, despite it being the dead of winter.

"So, Haruhi," they chorused. "We sent your dad off to Poseidon Undersea Resorts. Think he'll like it there?"

Well, that shocked the girl out of her brooding.

"_What?! _That place is like, $15,000 a week! Why would you send him _there_?"

"We just wanted to do something thoughtful," Hikaru shrugged. "It's really nice over there. He'll enjoy himself, I promise."

_We just wanted to do something thoughtful._ Yeah, right. The chance of this being true was like saying Haruhi joined the Host Club by choice, or the club members weren't actually rich. Hikaru might as well have waved around flags with a giant flashing sign over his head that said, "Oh, Haruhi! We sent your dad away so you'd have nowhere else to go but our mansion!" And even that would have been less obvious.

This was stupid. Although, she had to admit, she was slightly curious as to what the twins' home looked like. Although home would likely be an understatement.

A sleek black car pulled up. Haruhi could tell three things:

1. It was European,

2. It cost more than twenty years of her father's salary put together, and

3. It was way too much for a simple drive to Ouran and back to the Hitachiin Manor.

The tiny brunette frowned as the twins pulled her to the car.

"Come on, Haruhi! It'll be really fun!"

They ushered the girl inside, sandwiching her between the two of them. Kaoru said something to the driver, and they were off, Haruhi groaning and Hikaru and Kaoru singing a song of "sleepovers."

* * *

**Music Room Number Three**

Tamaki giggled nervously.

"It's a good thing you have a spare pair of glasses, right Kyoya?"

Kyoya was now giving him the 'I'm trying to remain calm but you may now consider yourself dead' look.

"That was my spare pair," he explained through gritted teeth, not even realizing it was Honey he was talking to instead. "And that was a custom order. Another won't be ready for a number of days."

The king of the Host Club looked about ready to bolt. Fortunately, Kyoya was facing Honey instead of him, so he didn't have to worry about seeing Kyoya's 'I'm going to kill you right now' expression. _Un_fortunately, the expression was causing the shorter boy to whimper and sob to no end.

"Takashi!" He ran to the taller host. "Kyo-chan's being scary!"

Mori was looking out the window at the sleek black Maserati pulling up. Two twins ushered a small brunette inside, and the girl made no protest. He wondered exactly what they said to make her comply.

"Tamaki."

Grateful for an excuse to get away from Kyoya, said boy ran to the window and squealed out of terror.

"Mother! Those vile _doppelgangers _are taking away my darling daughter right at this very moment! We must save her!"

Before "mother' could protest, "father" was dragging him and the "neighbours" out the door of the Music Room.

And the fact Kyoya was blind was completely forgotten.

* * *

**Yay! I managed to update! ^_^ Anyway, I still don't have the pairing decided. But at the moment, I'm a HaruMori shipper, so pretty please chime in with your opinions? (Cue Tamaki puppy-dog eyes)**

**Anyway, sorry for the short chapter — I sort of figured I needed to update soon. But hey! Look at that... we're still alive. Hehe. Sucks for the people who wasted their money on the safehouses.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here are the results for the pairing right now:**

**Kyoya: 3  
Mori: 3  
Hikaru: 2  
Kaoru: 1  
Honey: 0  
Tamaki: 1**

**Yes, I ****_will _****count those who can't pick. I ****_will _****count those who PM me. ****Thank you to all who did either one! I appreciate your input; I'm a HaruMori shipper at the moment so I'd really like to try writing something outside of my comfort zone. At the moment, Mori and Kyoya are tied for first!**

**Sorry if the last chapter was a little bit choppy; I was trying to write it in first person, then halfway through I realized the story was actually in third (laughs nervously).**

* * *

Haruhi wondered exactly how she got herself into this mess. Then again, it wasn't the mess she made, it was her father's. She could have always done more to get away from the twins, such as running and hiding, or perhaps faking a sickness (cough, cough, I'm dying!), but she knew either way they would find a way to get her to have a sleepover with them.

At the moment, she was standing in front of an overly large, extravagant mansion. The driveway was large as her apartment, maybe even larger. They drove around an elegant fountain, with a statue of a beautiful woman in flowing robes as a pedestal. Right now, the fountain was turned off due to the chilly weather. The car pulled up just as the twins' singing was starting to grate on her nerves. A butler opened the car doors for them, and another opened the doors to the mansion. Kaoru dragged her out his side and ran her up the steps, with Hikaru trailing behind holding their schoolbags.

Once inside, Hikaru threw their bags to the side. A cluster of maids ran to pick them up as Haruhi surveyed the place.

The foyer was large, to say the least. Paintings were hung up on the walls, and a grand staircase led up the far end. The high ceilings were dizzying; Haruhi wondered how many floors there were. The twins dragged her around for at least another hour or two, introducing to her a countless number of pointless rooms.

"This is the office! Don't go in there."

"This is the game room! So are you up for a round of pool or table soccer later?"

"This is the music room! What do you think of the grand Steinway & Sons?"

"This is the indoor pool! We should go swimming, yeah Haruhi?"

"This is the theater! We've got a whole lot of movies. Are you a fan of 'Romeo and Juliet?'"

Haruhi couldn't believe her eyes. One of the Italian hand painted tiles in the indoor pool would probably be worth one month's food money. One of the ten love seats in the theater could pay her rent for two, maybe three months!

The twins showed her their bedroom, then forced her to "frolic" with them to the library. There were a few cozy sofas here and there for reading, but this was not the only thing that caught Haruhi's attention.

Books were everywhere: crawling up the walls, scattered on the floor, dog-eared, spine-up, open, closed, hardback, paperback, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, fantasy, biography, auto-biography, poetry, history, humor, horror, supernatural, picture books, documentaries, classics, comics, memoirs, sonnets, politics, articles, music, science, history, art, math, anatomy, health. There were books in Japanese, in English, in Spanish, in German, Russian, Dutch, French, so many languages even Haruhi couldn't name them all. There were law books, as well.

Hikaru and Kaoru noticed the girls dreamy expression.

"If you want, Haruhi, we could come here before bed and maybe read a little bit."

Haruhi nodded wordlessly. There was a pause before she broke the silence.

"That would be nice, you two, I would like that. Thank you for inviting me. Now if you don't mind, could I see the clothes you picked out for me?"

The twins gladly dragged her to a closet and showed her the clothes. They weren't _too _bad, compared to Haruhi's "miniskirt" nightmare. There were mostly designer jeans and shirts, although not the kind Haruhi would have picked out for herself. The shoes seemed alright, they weren't high heels, but rather boots and tennis shoes.

"We picked out stuff we thought was feminine but you wouldn't mind, Haruhi. Is it okay?" Hikaru and Kaoru chorused.

"Yeah, it's fine." Haruhi replied.

"Cool! Now let's go play Truth or Dare!" Hikaru and Kaoru chorused with mischievous grins as they dragged the protesting female out of the closet.

* * *

**Inside Tamaki Suoh's Car**

"No! Tamaki, you fool, I don't have my glasses!"

Kyoya's protests were drowned out by Honey singing and Tamaki's fits of anger. By the time he was able to get a word in, he was tripping over the stairs to the Hitachiin Manor trying to catch up to his friends.

"Tamaki," the Shadow King growled. "I don't have my glasses. Meaning I _can't see_."

Tamaki managed to shut up.

"Oh... well, don't worry, I have a spare pair in my bag from the time you slept over! Besides, we're here already!"

Kyoya supposed that since Tamaki had a spare, he would be alright.

"Fine, fine. Just give me my glasses right now."

Tamaki was about to reach for his schoolbag, before realizing the maids had taken it already.

"I don't have my bag right now, Kyoya, so could it wait until later? Besides, my precious daughter is awaiting! Who knows what those vicious twins have done to her!?"

"But-"

"No time for 'buts,' Kyoya! We'll get your glasses later, okay? Now we need to go find Haruhi!"

And Kyoya was once again dragged away by Tamaki.

* * *

"Hey, everybody look at the blizzard outside! Looks like we had better leave. The maids and butlers are leaving too, before the roads get too icy."

Honey had a rare frown on his face as he spoke this, but of course Tamaki couldn't hear him. The group was in the library, looking out a window. Mori was busy admiring a painting of a proud white stag in a misty, forest-surrounded, field of gardenias.

The hired help was, indeed, leaving, and Kyoya was starting to get impatient. Every thirty seconds they would round a corner and he would be slammed into the wall, unable to maneuver without his glasses, which were in a closet somewhere downstairs.

Tamaki obviously had no intention of going back downstairs without Haruhi, and Kyoya had injured himself going _up _the stairs. There was no way he could go _down _alone without breaking an arm or a leg or something.

"Gah! She's not here! This is the _first _place I expected her to be! Now I'm absolutely clueless! Men, it's time to put on our thinking caps." Tamaki twirled around with a flourish. Kyoya rolled his eyes.

"Don't you think Haruhi would probably be with the twins, who will probably be in their room?"

Tamaki froze, then proceeded to start ranting again about how his "precious daughter could soon be defiled." He ran his friends down the hall (once again wounding Kyoya), and kicked open the door to the twins' room.

"...What the...?"

* * *

**Haha! I've finally finished!**

**Please forgive any errors; I'm not even so sure if Japan gets weather like this. I'll bet so, yeah. Even if I'm wrong, there's always author's license.**

**Please review and tell me who you'd like the pairing to be!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Kyoya: 3  
Mori: 3  
Hikaru: 4  
Kaoru: 2  
Honey: 0  
Tamaki: 1**

**Hikaru is winning!**

* * *

"...What the...?"

Haruhi was dressed in an outfit that could only be described as "cute." Her hair was held back with a pink bow, and she was wearing pink fuzzy "footie" pajamas (at least that was what the twins called it). There were small designs of bunnies on the pajamas. It was something nobody ever thought they would see Haruhi in.

Tamaki's heart throbbed. He could practically see Haruhi in the traditional "wink, pose, giggle" stance. He expected her to jump right into it any moment.

"Hey, guys." Haruhi said, unfazed. She surveyed the group.

Tamaki's face was red, Kyoya looked confused, Honey looked delighted, and Mori looked as though the boredom were eating him alive.

As for Hikaru and Kaoru, the older twin looked extremely annoyed, while Kaoru just seemed mildly curious.

"You look so cute, Haru-chan! You should wear that more often! I love the pink bunnies that look like Usa-chan!" Honey giggled, hugging his bunny and looking over Haruhi.

"Thanks," Haruhi said, tugging at the pant leg on her footies. "I don't really like it. But it seemed like it was going to be a cold night, so the twins suggested this. It looked warm enough."

"Really?" inquired Hikaru with a smirk. "Well then, Haruhi, you can go ahead and keep it. Keep the whole wardrobe."

"Thanks, but I'll just keep these. They're really comfortable, but I'm probably not going to wear anything else you offered."

"Hm." This came from Kyoya, who appeared to be in deep thought. He was squinting to see Haruhi. "Maybe we should take pictures of you in that. Your customers enjoy it when you... 'cross-dress.'"

Haruhi pretended not to hear that, and turned her attention to Honey, who was trying to get her to hug Usa-chan. She politely refused and turned to Hikaru and Kaoru.

"Hey, you two, can we go see the library now? I really want to go read some of those books on law."

And somewhere in Tamaki's world, his mind theatre activated.

**Tamaki's Inner ****Mind ****Theatre**

"Oh, senpai," a wide-eyed Haruhi sighed. "These books... they're so thick and complicated. Would you please help me?"

Tamaki chuckled and ran a hand through his golden hair.

"My dearest Haruhi, I would do anything for you... Now, put these books down. Spend your time with me, instead."

"Senpai..." Haruhi allowed herself the smallest blush, and the pair grasped one another throughout the cold, bitter winter night.

**End Tamaki's Inner Mind Theatre**

The club waited patiently for Tamaki to stop giggling relentlessly. They were by now used to his deliriousness, but they never really did uncover what really went through his head in his space-out moments.

"Maybe we should just leave him behind and go to the library," said Haruhi. "He'll know where we are."

"Seems like a good idea," said Kaoru. "I call leading the way!"

The club skipped ahead (the twins and Honey did; Kyoya, Mori and Haruhi were dragged along) a few doors down the hall to the library. When they entered, Haruhi found herself surprised once again at the incredible number of books. She didn't think that she (as a commoner) would _ever _stop being surprised by her friends' lifestyles. Although she had just been to the library, she could have sworn they had put in more books in the hour since she had been. The hosts seemed to understand she absolutely did not want to be disturbed in her reading, so they left her alone and made themselves comfortable. Haruhi did, too, as she settled down in a cozy little nook with a pen and notebook in one hand and a law book in the other.

Outside, a full-on blizzard was raging and quickly piling up against the door of the Hitachiin Manor.

* * *

Tamaki had caught up to his friends by now, and figured out where they were. Once Haruhi had made it clear that the books certainly were _not _too "thick and complicated" for her and she certainly would _not _"grasp" him, he sulked in his corner for some time, then went on to read Romeo and Juliet. He read and memorized the balcony scene for much longer than necessary. He was muttering over and over:

"_But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?  
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! _Bah! I need to replace 'Juliet' with 'Haruhi!'"

He would then proceed to rub ink off the palm of his hand. He didn't seem to understand that Haruhi would not recite Juliet's part back to him, at least not without bribery. And he was, of course, not cunning enough to think of bribery.

Haruhi probably wouldn't even turn away from the book she was reading. It seemed to interest her very much, and she was furiously jotting down notes at one of the hand carved mahogany desks in the library. She had taken the ribbon out of her hair, and it was currently intertwined between her fingers on her left hand. She was holding her bangs back, which had actually grown out quite a bit. If one stared at her for too long, they would get suspicious and figure out her secret.

It was well past nine o' clock.

"We should get going," said Kyoya, standing up. He hadn't been doing anything for three hours because he couldn't see. He had wanted to "get going" for quite some time now, but he had taken a ride with Tamaki and for some strange reason couldn't get any signal on his phone. All of the Hitachiin's drivers were gone, so he couldn't just borrow one of them, and he obviously couldn't drive himself with vision like his. Another thing he couldn't do was see the weather outside. If he had, he certainly would have left a very long time ago.

Nobody seemed in a hurry to leave, all scattered around the library. It was actually quite comfortable. But Tamaki looked up uncertainly from his book.

"Kyoya... can't we spend the night?!" he begged in a particularly whiny voice.

"No." Kyoya replied firmly. "The only pair of glasses I have right now are the ones you have. I need to place an order for a new pair. And you _still _have to give me my spare."

"Let's just all go downstairs and maybe grab Kyoya-senpai's glasses and a snack," suggested Haruhi, tearing her eyes away from her reading. "Then you can all get home and Hikaru, Kaoru and I will come back up here. I don't want a private police force sent out just to look for you."

"Agreed," Kyoya said, nodding his head once in approval.

So they all went downstairs on Haruhi's suggestion. They each took a granola bar (which Hikaru and Kaoru had coincidentally stocked up on right before Haruhi arrived) and Haruhi and the twins bid goodbye to their friends.

Kyoya was still asking for his glasses. Tamaki claimed he couldn't find them, but Kyoya decided that since he was about to order a new pair, the maids would come in and return his bag to him by the end of the weekend and he could just collect his spare to keep while he had a new pair.

That didn't mean he was still extremely irritated at Tamaki.

Honey skipped towards the door.

"Bye, Haru-chan, Hika-chan and Kao-chan! Have fun, and see you on Monday!" he giggled, opened the door, shrieked, and shut it as quickly as he could. He managed to block the tower of snow that would have crashed down on him.

"What is it Honey-senpai?" asked Haruhi bluntly. She reached for the door handle.

"No!" cried Honey. "There's too much snow. We can't get out. We're all snowed in!"

It took a little while for that to sink in. But when it did...

"WHAT?!"

* * *

**AHAHAHAH!**

**I've finished! I am victorious! Wait... not the story. I'm not done with the story. Just the chapter. FINALLY! **

**I'm sorry it took me so long to finish up. ): But I have a perfectly good reason. I was off teaching pineapples how to pole dance on ice cream cones while fighting vampires. So you _see _why I haven't updated?!**

**Haha, I'm just kidding. It was, admittedly, writers block, but then I got to the mind theatre and was like, "Yeah, I got this!" *fist pump***

**Please do not forget to vote. Your input is very, very much appreciated and I would very, very much like to have it. Now that I have all the characters right where I want them *cue evil laugh, rub hands together,* I can now add in all those little bits and pieces of character fluff that I have planned here and there. Maybe a chapter for every fluffy moment. ;)**

**Like I said before, thank you so much for your support and...**

**VOTE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Kyoya: 5  
Mori: 10  
Hikaru: 10  
Kaoru: 3  
Honey: 0  
Tamaki: 1**

**AHAHAHAH! I just enjoy doing that. **

**Things are getting interesting! Mori and Hikaru are tied for first. Don't forget to put your votes in! You can only vote once per chapter.**

* * *

Haruhi felt as if she was going to have a heart attack. Who knew how long it would be until the snow melted? She would probably starve to death, her friends probably didn't know how to ration food. And she would probably have to give her food away to Honey, Tamaki and the twins.

Kyoya knew exactly what this meant. No glasses, no sight. He couldn't look for his glasses himself, the manor was too big for him to maneuver without seeing anything.

Mori didn't really care, but was concerned about things like Honey's cake. He didn't think the twins would have a weekend's (maybe more) worth of cake, and with his cousin, things could spiral out of control. A close second on his worry list was electricity. He knew the twins had a generator, but the electricity was bound to go out at one point.

Tamaki was terrified. All he could think about was protecting his darling daughter from the rest of the club, and locked in a house full of boys he didn't think he could do it. Not to mention he couldn't find Kyoya's glasses.

All sorts of pranks and tricks to play were running through Hikaru's and Kaoru's heads, and evil grins were spread wide across their faces.

Honey was frowning, holding Usa-chan tightly. He knew he would have to ration cake, something that had not happened since his cavity. Strangely, however, the cake wasn't the worst thing on his mind. He looked around at his companions. Haruhi was like a little sister to him, but he was aware that everybody else had feelings for the girl, whether they realized it or not. He already knew that Hikaru had figured it out, and so had his cousin. Kaoru had crushed his feelings for Haruhi when they were budding, and he had done that for Hikaru. But there always seemed to be a small spark. Kyoya was getting there, but Tamaki would need some prodding to get him to have the epiphany it took.

Honey was sure that by the end of the lock-in, it would be a full blown competition between his fellow members for Haruhi's affection and attention. The thing was, the girl wouldn't even know it. There was no way this would end well. He, however, intended to help his cousin Takashi as much as he could.

The short senior cleared his throat to break the awkward silence.

"Hika-chan, Kao-chan, do you have enough room for all of us?"

"Yeah, Honey-senpai, we should. But we might have to _double __up_." Hikaru drawled out 'double up' as he leered pointedly at Tamaki, who looked on the verge of panicking.

"Alright!" giggled Honey, clutching Usa-chan. He quickly caught onto Hikaru's game. A little bit of fun wouldn't hurt once in a while. "You can double up with Haru-chan, Hika-chan!"

Kaoru looked confused. Hikaru looked alarmed. And Haruhi and Tamaki of course, looked scared as rabbits in a foxhole. Honey turned his back and put his finger to his chin, as if in deep thought. He pretended not to notice their reactions.

"But then I suppose if Hika-chan doesn't want to, Takashi could always take his place!"

The expressions of the hosts intensified, added by Mori's slight blush. Haruhi, however, put on her best lawyer of assertion face.

"No. I'm the only girl here, so if we double up, Hikaru and Kaoru can, and if we have to further, you and Mori-senpai can, Honey-senpai. But I won't."

Honey giggled.

"Great! But it's still snowing outside, Haru-chan. At one point, the electricity's going to go out before _we _can get out. So eventually you'll have to double up to share body heat."

Haruhi grumbled. That tiny high schooler was scarier than he looked like. But she knew he was right. The snow wouldn't melt anytime soon, and they only had so much power.

"Whatever. But I'll just stay by myself until that happens. Now let me call my dad."

As Haruhi walked away from the group, Tamaki, who had a forced smile plastered to his face, exploded.

"HONEY-SENPAI, WHAT WAS THAT?! YOU KNOW MY DARLING DAUGHTER CAN'T BUNK WITH THAT EVIL TWIN! AND YOU KNOW THAT MORI-SENPAI WANTS MY SPOT AS HARUHI'S DADDY!"

As His Royal Highness droned on and on, Haruhi headed back to the library to call her dad.

"Fujioka Ranka, speaking."

"Hey dad, it's me, Haruhi. I just wanted to let you know-"

"Oh, Haruhi! Look at you, little girl. Calling me at my vacation, when you should be spending time with those lovely Hitachiin brothers. I'm glad you can spend time away from that idiot Tamaki."

"Actually-"

"Although I do have to admit, he is quite handsome. And guess what, Haruhi? I'm underwater! Don't even ask how I get reception, dear."

"Well, the thing is-"

"Maybe they have a cell phone tower somewhere nearby... underwater, perhaps? Is that even possible?"

"I'm snowed in with Tamaki-senpai and the rest of the Host Club."

Dead silence. And downstairs, a scream was heard from the cell phone. It was surprising the glass to the resort didn't break on Ranka's end of the line.

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me, dad." Haruhi said, as monotonously as ever. "Well, have fun on your vacation. The club's probably looking for me."

And with that, Haruhi hung up the phone.

The girl trudged downstairs. She stopped on the bottom step.

"Hey, guys. I'm gonna go to sleep now. Could you show me to my room, Kaoru?"

"Sure." Kaoru said.

"Hey, why not me?" Hikaru complained.

"Because you're obnoxious." Haruhi replied.

Kaoru led Haruhi up the steps and down the hall. He turned a corner, then another, until Haruhi was sure the boys would never be able to find her in this labyrinth of a mansion.

"This is your room, Haruhi. I had it designed for you. There's also another closet in here."

"Thanks. It's great."

The room was simple, obviously designed by Kaoru. Compared to what Hikaru's design of pink and frills would be, this was actually quite nice. There was a king sized bed, memory foam for sure, with a dozen imported pillows and a fluffy down comforter. The room was white, with purple and beige here and there. There was a desk, and a large window on the far wall that overlooked the mountains in the distance. A plush violet rug sat at the foot of the bed.

Haruhi gave him a dazzling smile.

"Thanks for toning it down. I thought it would be worse."

Kaoru laughed.

"Well, I figured you would want it like this. Hikaru wanted flowers and pink everywhere, but I changed the design last minute. I also made the wardrobe a bit more suited to your taste. None of those skinny jeans or high heel boots or anything."

Haruhi smirked, but her expression soon became serious.

"Kaoru, are you jealous of Hikaru?"

Kaoru's face turned redder than a tomato.

"What makes you say that?"

Haruhi tilted her head musingly. _Adorable__, _Kaoru thought.

"Well, you always seem to be trying to outdo him, at least whenever I'm around. And you looked a little miffed when Honey-senpai said we bunk together. It's because you're trying to prove yourself to someone, maybe your parents, isn't it." It was more a statement than a question.

Kaoru stared at her for a while, then shook his head, impressed with his companion's clairvoyance.

"You always were too smart for your own good, Haruhi. You're right, I am a little jealous of Hikaru. Sibling rivalry, you know? Your reasoning's wrong though. I'm not trying to prove myself to my parents. Hikaru can have the company, for all I care."

Haruhi frowned. "But you're trying to prove yourself to _somebody_. Who?"

And just like that, the solemn moment between the two was gone when Kaoru grinned. He leaned in the doorway, leering down at Haruhi, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Maybe I'll tell you in time, maybe you'll figure it out on your own. But you'll see eventually. For now, though, let's just keep it my little secret."

Haruhi pouted jokingly.

"Alright, whatever. Let's head back now, before Tamaki-senpai assumes the worst."

So the duo shared a smile, linked their arms, and started down the hallway.

* * *

**Yay! I've finished! Terribly sorry for the long wait, my computer crashed and I lost all my files. I'll admit, since this chapter was almost done, I actually sat at my computer, dumbfounded for two hours. :P Whatever, though! It's up now! And please vote!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Kyoya: 7  
Mori: 14  
Hikaru: 12  
****Kaoru: 10  
****Honey: 0  
****Tamaki: 1**

***cue announcer voice***

**Aaand Mori pulls ahead of Hikaru by just two votes, and Kaoru is catching up! There's still enough time, ladies and gentlemen, so place your bets (votes)! But no, seriously, start sending me reviews instead of PMs, it, for lack of a better word, - spams my inbox. I do appreciate you voting, though.**

**IMPORTANT: From this point on, I will NOT BE TAKING GUEST VOTES.**

* * *

When Kaoru and Haruhi made it downstairs, the hosts weren't anywhere to be found.

"Where do you think they've gone?" Kaoru inquired, looking around. Haruhi just shrugged. He tried not to feel hurt when Haruhi removed her arm from his; Tamaki or Hikaru would certainly overreact.

"They probably stole all the food from the cupboards to make sure they had enough." Kaoru stared at her like she had grown another head. Haruhi frowned. "What?"

"We don't keep our food in our cupboards, I think. I'm pretty sure we have a special room for that. And we just get our ingredients fresh from its source." Now it was Haruhi's turn to stare.

"What do you mean, you think? You're pretty sure? How do you not know where you keep your food?"

Kaoru shrugged. "I'm not sure, because I've never cooked a meal in my life."

Haruhi stared a little while longer, then shook her head and sighed. She should have known. Probably the only thing the Host Club members had made themselves was the tea they served to their guests. She knew for a fact that the cake was imported from France or Switzerland or some other place.

"HARUHI!" a voice yelled at her, "LOOK AT WHAT DADDY FOUND! THEY'RE CALLED GRANOLA BARS!"

Mori trudged into the room with Honey on his neck. Both were munching on a granola bar.

"Haru-chan! These are really good! They taste like cake!" Honey said.

"Mitsukuni. Chew first."

Honey finished chewing, swallowed, and frowned.

"Hey... Where's Kyo-chan?" This comment seemed more directed at Tamaki, who was supposed to be like Kyoya's guide dog. Tamaki froze in place, his granola bar halfway to his mouth. Then he bolted back into the kitchen where Kyoya was.

"Kyoya! Kyoya, are you alright, mon ami?"

Kyoya was indeed, alright, wandering around aimlessly and occasionally bumping into walls like a robot. Profanities could be heard left and right. After Tamaki left, Hikaru was the one left to try to drag him back to the others. But as soon as Tamaki came in, Hikaru waltz right out the door and draped his arm over Haruhi's shoulders. He was soon followed by Kaoru.

"Hey, Haruhi," they spoke in unison. "We should go swimming. We still have the swimsuit you were supposed to wear at the beach."

"Swimming?" Haruhi inquired bluntly. "But it's winter."

The twins snorted. By this time, Tamaki and Kyoya had returned.

"Yeah, so? We have a heated indoor pool and a hot tub, it's not like we're going outside."

"No, thanks," Haruhi shook her head and held up her hands, as if to ward away any argument they would offer. "It just won't feel right to go swimming in this weather, even if it's inside."

The twins rolled their eyes in an 'if you say so' fashion.

"So I suppose that means that the boss won't get to see you in a swimsuit?" Hikaru grinned down at Haruhi, then up to Tamaki.

Well, this certainly had the intended effect.

"WHAT? HARUHI! DADDY SAYS YOU SHOULD GO SWIMMING! BESIDES, WHO DOESN'T LOVE WATER, AND MAYBE IF YOU MODEL FOR THE TWINS THEN THEY'LL LAY OFF OF YOU FOR A WHILE, RIGHT, MY DAUGHTER?"

"Shut _up_, senpai! I'm not about to go swimming just because you said so!"

"Wow.." Kaoru started.

"That was harsh." Hikaru finished.

"Even for Haruhi." The twins leered down at Tamaki, who was busy sulking in his corner. They bent over him, 'whispering' to one another. Whispering loudly enough for the king to hear.

"She'd really have to _hate _somebody to _yell _at them like that... and isn't she at that _rebellious _age where she starts _hate-_ing her _parents_? Particularly her _father_..."_  
_

"WHAT?! Haruhi, is this true? Are you going through a rebellious phase? Oh, please tell Daddy, so he can fix it..."

The female plugged her ears and grimaced. Just as it looked as if she were about to explode, she let out a defeated sigh and glared at the king.

"Fine. I'll go swimming tomorrow. I don't even know why I'm down here, I was supposed to be sleeping."

With that, she huffed and stomped up the stairs to her temporary room.

* * *

Haruhi took the ribbons out of her hair and combed through it with her fingers.

"Choking hazard..." she grumbled. "Nobody wears these when they sleep..."

As she griped and groaned about how her friends seemed to be trying to kill her, she hung the ribbon up on the vanity. As much as she hated the color and the girlishness of it all, she had to admit it was a pretty good way of keeping her hair back. It was solid, tied around her head well, and kept her hair out of her face when she was studying. Of course, she could have used a headband, but those had a tendency to slip...

Haruhi chuckled. It was rare she allowed her mind to wander like that. She almost never thought about trivial things about wearing a ribbon instead of a hairband. Her mind was usually on chores, or studies. Sometimes, she would even work out a math problem or riddle in her head. She supposed she earned the luxury, though. _Five minutes. Five minutes only,_ she thought to herself.

Taking the time, she thought back to the conversation Kaoru and she had had not even ten minutes ago. She picked up a hairbrush and started thinking sagely.

_"You're right, I am a little jealous of Hikaru. Sibling rivalry, you know? Your reasoning's wrong though. I'm not trying to prove myself to my parents..."_

"But you're trying to prove yourself to _somebody_, Kaoru Hitachiin. Just who?" She looked up at herself in the mirror as she wondered aloud. His voice echoed in her head.

_"Maybe I'll tell you in time, maybe you'll figure it out on your own. But you'll see eventually. For now, though, let's just keep it my little secret."_

Frankly, she would much rather figure out on her own, she replied to mind-Kaoru. She tilted her head and tugged on her hair. Even though she didn't give a— she decided not to say that word, even in her head— about appearances, she picked up a hairbrush and brushed her hair anyway, just for something to do. She decided to start with the Host Club, since that was the group of people the Hitachiin most liked to spend time around.

Well, he had never said he didn't want to prove himself to Hikaru. Just his parents. Maybe he thought Hikaru was better than him, and needed to prove his brother wrong. No, that couldn't be right... Hikaru adored his twin, and Kaoru knew it. So he wasn't trying to prove himself to Hikaru.

Tamaki? That couldn't be it either. Tamaki cherished everybody. _"J'adore et vous aime tous, mes amis!" _he would always say. _"I adore and love all of you, my friends!" _Even if Kaoru _didn't _want the king to care about him, the king still would.

Maybe it was Kyoya. Kyoya was supposedly heartless, so he could make a good candidate. Then again, Kaoru probably wouldn't waste his time trying to get the Shadow King's approval. Haruhi snorted for even thinking in the first place that it could have been Kyoya.

Honey-senpai could have worked. Although it was the same case as Tamaki and Hikaru— he already liked Kaoru. So Honey was out.

That left herself and Mori-senpai. Mori, though, wouldn't want Kaoru trying for his attention. Kaoru knew that, so if he wanted to make his senior proud, he wouldn't even go there.

So he was competing against himself for her? That made no sense. She must have made a mistake along the line. She was about to go over everything again, until she realized her five minutes had long been up. She frowned.

"I'll think about it in the pool tomorrow," she mumbled.

Haruhi settled down into her cozy bed and let out a sigh of contentment. She turned her head to the left, so she was gazing out the wall that was completely made of glass. She fell asleep in her warm bed, watching the snowstorm rage outside.

* * *

**Yes! I've finished! Finally, right? I must say, I have no excuse for not updating. :( Unless you all count writer's block as an excuse... I swear, I felt exactly like Shigure Sohma from Fruits Basket. He's always exasperating his editor and procrastinating his writing. But hey, as the everyday slacker would say, why procrastinate procrastination, right? So, I'll end this installment of _Snowed In_ with my usual message...**

**REVIEW (and vote)!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Kyoya: 9  
Mori: 17  
Hikaru: 16  
Kaoru: 12  
Honey: 1  
Tamaki: 1**

**I very much appreciate all of the reviews. ^_^ I'm just going to get on with it...**

* * *

Haruhi had the best night sleep of her life. The fluffy duvet kept her warm, and she sank at least a foot down into the mattress. She could barely get herself out of bed that morning. She could almost hear the Hosts' voices in her mind:

"_Haruhi, Haruhi, Haruhi. Oh, dear Haruhi, you work yourself too hard_."

"_You don't have to say my name so many times_," was her short reply.

She hadn't even bothered arguing. She knew she could sometimes overdo it, but she had to make up for her mother's absence. The only thing in that sentence that was wrong was their consistent repeat of her name. She was originally planning on heading over to the library, but then remembered she had to go swimming with "daddy and her brothers."

Haruhi hoisted herself up off her bed and looked at the clock. Six forty-five. She doubted any of the Hosts would be up by now. She decided to take a walk around the mansion. With any luck, she would get lost and not have to swim. Then again, if that happened, Tamaki would probably panic and turn the mansion inside out looking for her. She rolled her eyes and got up anyway. Maybe she could find her schoolbag and catch up on some homework while she was here. And maybe she could find Kyoya's glasses while she was at it. Que sera, sera.

She brushed her hair and got changed. There was a pair of silk slippers next to her bed, and she put those on. She went into the closet and came out five minutes later in flared jeans and a simple light pink top. Once that was finished, she stepped out of the room to make breakfast.

As fate would have it, she got lost immediately. Apparently, that tour from Hikaru and Kaoru didn't really help out all that much. She ended up in the library, which was not empty as she had expected.

"Ah! Mori-senpai! I didn't expect to see you here."

He turned from the painting that he had been looking at on the first day, with a small smile on his face.

"Haruhi."

She walked up to him.

"What were you looking at?"

"This painting."

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

"It is."

There was silence after that. The two of them continued to admire the painting, then Mori spoke up.

"It reminds me of you."

Haruhi looked up quizzically, the smallest frown on her face.

"How so?"

He looked down at her softly and put a hand on her head, directing her eyes back to the painting. He pointed as he spoke.

"If one looks at the painting carefully, and knows the meaning of each individual element, he or she can find out what the entire picture symbolizes. The white stag here, the gardenias there, the fog and the forest, each represent different things. In legend, the white stag has been known to lead people to their destinies, or to their safe havens. So the stag in the painting is leading to somewhere, or is already there. The gardenias, the white flowers around it, are associated with purity, secret love, and beauty. The fog helps to hide the stag and the flowers. The forest could also be seen as another form of concealment, but I think it's more than that. You see, a forest is complex, it has different types of trees, shrubs, animals, lakes, and rivers. So maybe that means it will be difficult to follow the stag into the field, and it will be harder to see the gardenias. The painting symbolizes hidden love. That is how it reminds me of you."

He looked at her carefully, hoping the ever-oblivious girl would understand.

Haruhi, on the other hand, had never heard her senpai talk that much. She was more focused on that, and when in the world he became an art critic. She looked up at him, amazed.

"Mori-senpai... I remind you of a deer?"

Mori's expression went completely slack. He almost face palmed. He could definitely sympathize with Bossanova and Arai now; he was completely blown off without her even understanding what he was implying in the first place.

"Ah."

Hikaru poked his head in through the door. He nodded at Haruhi, who was still trying to understand why Mori had just called her a deer, and at Mori, who looked like he was trying to recover from something.

"Hey, Haruhi. Do you think you can cook breakfast for us or something? Most of us don't know a single thing about cooking."

Haruhi snapped out of her thoughts. She sighed and cursed the Hosts and their families under her breath.

"Fine. But don't think I'm just going to keep cooking for you."

Breakfast consisted of oatmeal. Almost everyone was complaining, until Haruhi pointed out they didn't know how long they would be staying, so they would need to ration their food.

Mori didn't eat. He looked completely shell-shocked. However, shell-shocked wasn't all that different from happy and annoyed to everyone but Honey.

"Ne, Takashi, are you okay?" He asked his taller friend quietly.

No response.

"Takashi?"

No response.

Honey frowned and poked Mori lightly in the arm before frowning deeper. He sighed when there was, yet again, no response. He wondered what happened. Probably something concerning Haruhi or himself. He knew his cousin cared deeply for the two of them, and in return, the two of them were frankly the only ones that could elicit a physical answer from him. Mori was silent, but being _this _silent was abnormal. In being unresponsive, he was being responsive.

Honey was starting to get irritated. He tried everything: waving his hand in Mori's face, snapping his fingers, even hitting his cousin with his rabbit. Finally, he took his own bowl of oatmeal and thrust it into his cousin's face.

Well, that got his attention, alright. Unfortunately, it got everybody else's, as well.

"Takashi, you weren't listening. What was wrong?"

The bowl fell onto the table. The oatmeal spread all over Mori's face would have been pretty funny, if not for the glare he was giving the short blond.

"There is oatmeal on my face."

"Before that, Takashi."

Mori glared at him some more, than sighed and stood up and started walking to the restroom to wash off the oatmeal.

Only then did Honey realize that everybody in the room was staring at him. Except for Kyoya, who was staring at Tamaki. Kyoya started speaking.

"Um, Honey-senpai," Haruhi turned Kyoya's head towards Honey and away from Tamaki. "Thank you, Kaoru. Was Mori-senpai upset?"

Everyone snickered at Kyoya's confusion. Without his glasses, he thought everybody was somebody else.

"Eh? Oh, yeah, it seemed like it."

Hikaru spoke up.

"So you took a bowl of oatmeal to his face?"

"Yup!"

Haruhi laughed.

"He called me a deer earlier today. We were looking at the painting, and he said I reminded him of it. Of the deer, I mean."

Honey could almost physically hear the click in his head as he put two and two together. So that was it. Haruhi must have not understood that Mori was confessing to her. He had seen the painting himself, and he had come to the same conclusion. Of course, he couldn't relate.

"Oh... well, I think he meant you're cute, like a deer. Have you seen the movie _Bambi_?"

"So that's what he meant? I thought he was trying to insult me. I was about to tell him to drown himself." Haruhi tried to look serious, but it was obvious she was kidding.

"Speaking of drowning..." Hikaru started,

"Weren't you supposed to go swimming with us today?" Kaoru finished.

Haruhi mentally slapped herself for not being able to think up a better idiom. Tamaki was immediately at her side.

"Ah, that's right. Hikaru and Kaoru have already picked out a swimsuit for you. Why don't you go try it on, princess?"

Haruhi let out a sigh, then turned around and glared.

"I'm not one of your customers, so don't use that tone with me."

Tamaki was back at his seat in record time.

"It's true though, Haruhi," the twins spoke up, "You should go try on the swimsuit. We might need to pick out a new one for you, if it doesn't fit."

"Right, because you totally have a full closet of swimsuits." Haruhi said.

"But we do."

"Female's swimsuits."

"But we do."

"Sarcasm is lost on the two of you."

"We know."

* * *

Not even twenty minutes later, Haruhi was being fussed over. She was wearing the swimsuit that she was suppose to wear to the beach, the pink one with the ruffles. The twins were obsessing over her hair, although she argued it would just get wet anyway. They were already in their designer swim shorts, and she was in their mother's design. She knew if her dad could see her now, he would be just as bad as Tamaki, who was right outside the door.

"That's it! You're done! Let's go, Haruhi!"

Haruhi sighed, gave up and linked arms with them, then braced herself for the long day ahead.

* * *

**Well, that's that! Not that I'm done...**

**I apologize if anybody is OOC. I couldn't really figure out another way to have a fluffy little moment with Mori.**

**REVIEW AND VOTE!**


	8. Chapter 8

**PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT BOTTOM: IT'S VERY LONG AND CONTAINS VAGUELY IMPORTANT MESSAGES**

**Kyoya: 9  
****Mori: 18  
****Hikaru: 23  
****Kaoru: 14  
****Honey: 2  
****Tamaki: 1**

**WHOA! Didn't Hikaru have a little uh, a little GROWTH SPURT there, yeah? One second he's lagging behind that one tall guy, and the next, THEY'RE TWINS!**

**HURR, SEE WHAT I DID THAR?**

***laughs nervously***

**Ok, fine. I'll get on with the story. Obviously none of you know any GOOD COMEDIANS when they come and SLAP YOU IN THE FACE! I'm just kidding, I won't slap you in the face.**

**I lied. The story's not starting yet. But, in this chapter, Tamaki speaks a lot of French. In Chapter 6, I could have just translated it during the chapter, but here, he speaks pretty much whole sentences in French. So, no, you do not have to go to Google Translate if you don't want to, because I will have the translations at the end.**

* * *

On the way down to the pool, Haruhi was voted to lead Kyoya. He had decided he wouldn't swim, but would just sit off to the side. Tamaki insisted he come anyway, though. So with Kyoya barking at her to slow down ("Haruhi! If you keep walking a mile a minute, I'll add a _mile_ long number to your debt every _minute_!"), Mori still looking depressed ("Snap out of it, Mori-senpai!), the twins teasing Tamaki ("Quit staring, you pervert!"), and Tamaki squealing in her ear about how cute she looked ("My darling daughter! Daddy's so happy that you finally _blah blah blah..._!"), Haruhi felt as if she were the only sane one in the group. Honey had already gone down to the pool. Even the generally normal members were out of character today.

The pool was big, to say the least. There was a raised hot tub in one corner, with a waterfall down the side that led into the pool. Haruhi didn't even bother asking how the water temperature in the pool wouldn't get too hot; this _was _the home of members of the Host Club. The pool went from three feet and gradually raised up to twelve. On the twelve side there was a high and low diving board and a mini water slide. In another corner, there was a small splash-park-like area.

Everyone just stood there for a good five minutes in awkward silence. Finally, Honey tackle-hugged Haruhi.

"Haru-chan! Let's go swim, 'kay?"

"Alright." Haruhi immediately agreed, more than happy to get away from the Host Club... even though she would be with one member... at least he wasn't a lunatic?

The rest of the Host Club watched as Honey made a cannonball into the pool (as good as a cannonball anybody can make with a bunny float on) and Haruhi made a graceful flip, then dive into the pool. A few of them arched their eyebrows in mild surprise; others went into panic.

"OH MY GOODNESS! Mother, did you see that? My darling daughter looked so, so, cute! Who would have known she could have such _recherche, _such _élégance raffinée_!"

"Senpai, all she did was jump off a diving board."

"Oh, you _sans cervelle _twins! _Ma fille chérie n'a pas simplement plonger hors d'un plongeoir! Elle est devenue quelque chose de beau, quelque chose de la grâce! Elle était comme une belle sirène sautant d'un rocher et dans l'eau de mer glaciale vers le bas ci-dessous. Elle-_"

"Kyoya-senpai! Tamaki-senpai's speaking in French again. Make him stop!"

"It's rude to interrupt, you crazy doppelgangers!" Tamaki admonished, speaking in English again.

"Just like you interrupted me every time I tried to tell you to get my glasses?"

"Kyoya! I told you I was sorry!"

"The boss is a jerk, the boss is a jerk!" The twins sang in unison.

"Shut up! There are more important things at hand, like Haruhi's lovely dive! Who could have guessed it?"

"Me." Kyoya reached up to adjust his nonexistent glasses and opened his black notebook, not caring whether he could see the lettering or not. "Haruhi used to be on the swim team at her old school. She was an excellent swimmer. Her classmates and teachers likened her to a dolphin, or, as _you_ screamed in French, a mermaid. Eventually, she had gotten so good that she competed and won local, then prefecture, and eventually, she reached fourth place in Japan, unsuccessful only to two high school seniors and a high school second year. She _would _have joined the swim team here at Ouran, but _you_ forced her to join the club. Since club time conflicts with swim team practice, it wouldn't be possible, and even if it didn't, she wouldn't be able to swim without revealing her gender. I thought _you _would have known, _you_ being her father and everything." Kyoya stressed all of the "yous" to show that this was payback for Tamaki breaking his glasses.

A jolt of electricity made its way through Tamaki's body. He was cultivating mushrooms in the corner in a matter of seconds. Kyoya smirked.

"Tamaki-senpai, each of those tiles are hand-painted and imported from Italy. Could you please quit growing mushrooms all over them?" Hikaru scowled. Even though he had caught only bits and pieces of Tamaki's French, he had picked up "brainless twins" and "crazy doppelgangers."

With that, Hikaru and Kaoru ran and jumped into the pool, where Haruhi had already surfaced and Honey was congratulating her on her dive.

Haruhi was floating in the middle of the pool when something surfaced under her. She gave a quiet shout of surprise, before seeing it was only Hikaru.

"Haruhi! That trick works every time with girls. They always think it's a shark or something. Why didn't you?"

"We're in a pool, Hikaru. This isn't that one movie about those carnivorous fish getting in through the pipes. They were either sawfish or candiru."

"Piranha? Oh, right. I didn't think you would know that movie."

"Dad showed it to me once. I didn't like it. It's like the producers were trying too hard to make the movie erogenous."

"Right," Hikaru raised his voice. "Well, we can reenact the movie if you want, Haruhi! You could be the girl that was eaten by the piranhas, and we could give you a bikini like in the movies!"

Haruhi submerged so her eardrums wouldn't break from Tamaki's unbearable screeching from the side of the pool. When she came back up, she rolled her eyes when Tamaki bombed her with questions about piranhas and this movie Haruhi spoke of, which she tried to explain as calmly as she could. She wished she hadn't after she saw the sparkle in the King's eyes.

"That settles it, then! We'll watch Piranha tonight, and if I like it, we'll cosplay it once school starts back up!"

Haruhi groaned. She absolutely hated this movie. She silently cursed Hikaru, Tamaki, Alexandre Aja, Mark Canton, Pete Goldfinger_ (1)_, piranhas, and everything else under the sun.

"It's a horror movie, Tamaki-senpai."

"I don't care! If my darling daughter likes it, then we watch it!"

"I don't like it. I hate it."

By this point, however, Tamaki was already strutting around the perimeter of the pool, talking about the movie. Haruhi sighed. She sank down until only her eyes were above the water. She smiled a little when her heavy breathing blew little bubbles under the water. She had already learned that when dealing when the Host Club, she had to take deep breaths.

She loved the way her hair fanned on top of the water. It had grown almost to her shoulders. The only reason she hadn't cut it was because Kyoya had insisted girls found it attractive when males wore their hair long. Something about warriors?

Sighing and rubbing her temples, Haruhi proceeded to swim laps around the pool.

* * *

It happened that night.

The worst tragedy that happened in Haruhi's sixteen years of living: the power went out.

Okay, okay, so maybe it wasn't the worst. It could actually be considered as extremely unfortunate or extremely fortunate. Fortunate as in she wouldn't have to watch Piranha with Tamaki and the rest of the Host Club, and unfortunate in the fact that it would be freezing and the Host Club would whine so much she would threaten to go outside nude trying to get hypothermia and thus, die.

As Haruhi was serving dinner (spaghetti, since the hosts were complaining about their skimpy breakfast) the lights flickered, once, twice, then finally, they went out. Melodramatic shouts rose.

"Shoot." Haruhi said, successfully masking her inner Tamaki, although she really wished she could just go to the corner like the King would.

"That's right, Haru-chan!" Honey giggled, looking completely unconcerned. "But Takashi's good with electricity, so we should be okay. The generator probably just froze or broke down.

Well, wasn't Haruhi learning a lot about her friends today? Tamaki was into horror movies, Mori was good with electricity, and Hikaru was an even bigger pervert than she thought.

Haruhi scowled. It was already starting to get colder and colder. By night, the temperature would be near unbearable. Which meant only one thing: Honey's prediction was right. She would have to _bunk _with members of the _Host Club_. She thought out the names in displeasure. Maybe she could stay with Honey; he probably wouldn't give him a hard time about it. Hikaru and Kaoru would probably tease her about it, and they'd still be laughing at her at their high school graduation. Tamaki would keep talking, and there was no way she would be able to sleep. With Mori, it would probably be too awkward with the whole deer incident. And the Shadow King? She didn't even bother thinking about that. She couldn't think about that. Whether he was blind or not, she couldn't imagine sharing a bed with him after— ahem —that night at the beach. Even if that whole "You can pay off your debt with your body" thing had never played out, he was Kyoya. It wasn't happening.

The girl stirred her spaghetti in thought. If nobody would come to share, then there was no way she would ask. It was against her nature. She sighed for what had to be the millionth time that day, and proceeded to eat her spaghetti.

* * *

Haruhi swore up and down she was a soothsayer that night. Nobody came. Honestly, she felt a little bit offended. Here she was, freezing. She immediately reprimanded herself for thinking that. They were probably just asleep, or it was too cold for any of them to get up and walk fifty miles to her room (although they were all in the same hallway). She couldn't expect them to sacrifice that much for her sake. So she closed her eyes and tried to think of hot cocoa and fireplaces and all those other warm things. She hadn't been dependent for ten years: she wasn't about to start now.

* * *

"Kyoya?" Tamaki poked his head in through the door of his friend's room, his voice raising at least three octaves. He hoped Kyoya hadn't fallen asleep. Fortunately, he hadn't.

"Yes, Honey-senpai?"

"No, it's me, Tamaki." Tamaki cleared his throat and tried to speak in his normal pitch. "I was wondering if we could share? It's freezing, and Honey-senpai mentioned doubling up."

Kyoya sighed.

"Well, either way it's going to be quite cold. I was actually thinking of asking Mori-senpai the same thing. Not that I have anything against you," he added, when Tamaki started to head towards the corner. "It's just I figured you were asleep already."

Tamaki brightened up. "That's a great idea! So now we can make it feel like a real commoner sleepover by staying in the same room!"

Kyoya rolled his eyes and started gathering up his blankets. "Let's go, already. We'll get hypothermia just standing here."

The two of them padded over to the room across the hall. Kyoya loudly rapped on the door three times. Mori opened up and grunted languorously.

"Mori-senpai! Hello! Kyoya and I were wondering if we could share with you."

"Alright. If you don't mind Mitsukuni here, as well.

"Of course we don't mind, Mori-senpai." Kyoya said.

They walked into the room and plopped down at the foot of the bed. Honey was trying to sleep at the head. Mori looked around, trying to find room. Finally, he positioned himself on the edge of the bed. However, even with the four of them, it was still cold.

So they all packed up their blankets and pillows and headed to the twins' room.

They found Hikaru and Kaoru curled up together for warmth. Neither were asleep. After a brief argument over where who would sleep where, they all finally huddled together in the middle of the bed. Screw pride.

"Haru-chan must be freezing." Honey commented quietly at around ten o'clock.

"Yeah," Hikaru said. "But there's no way we'd ever be able to get her over here. And if we all went over there, she'd probably throw stuff at us."

The rest of the hosts grunted in approval.

"So why don't _you _go over there Hika-chan?"

Even Tamaki was too tired to protest. He was also too comfortable, and he didn't want to get up and go to Haruhi. He didn't want Hikaru to go, either. Ashamed of himself, he automatically agreed with Honey.

"That's a good idea, Hikaru," he said. "Go on ahead. Poor Haruhi doesn't have anybody with her."

Hikaru sighed. He didn't want to get up, although he couldn't deny he wanted to go stay with Haruhi. He hoped for a while that somebody else would go, or Haruhi would come, but after five minutes, he hoisted himself up off the bed and traipsed over to Haruhi's room.

* * *

"Hey, Haruhi?" He whispered. Haruhi gave a small noise in response.

It broke Hikaru's heart to see Haruhi curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed. Although she didn't look defenseless, she looked very, very cold. And small. And tired. Hikaru gave a sigh of defeat and approached Haruhi like he would a rabbit with a broken leg. Seeing the look on Haruhi's face, he almost stopped, not wishing to get killed tonight.

He carefully lifted the sheets and took a place next to Haruhi. He felt her cold, petite form next to his own warm one for a split second before she rolled away to the edge of the left side of the bed. Hikaru felt his lip curl in displeasure. He rolled his eyes.

"Haruhi, just get over here."

"No."

"Come on. It'll freeze. There's no point in me being here if you won't get over here."

"Then don't be here. You'll be warmer with the rest of the club, and I'm not going over there."

"Haruhi."

"No."

"I'm cold too, you know. If you won't come closer to me then you're being selfish."

There was no response. Hikaru grimaced in distaste. _This _was what he woke up for every morning? _This _was what he was distancing himself from his twin for? _This _was what he silently cried over every night? Disgusted with himself, he threw the covers off and tried to stomp to the door. Tried.

A small hand grabbed hold of his right arm, then slid down to meet his hand. There was Haruhi, who had crawled slowly and silently crossed the bed, defeated, and was now looking up at him with a pleading expression. Again, not defenseless, but certainly not pushing him away. Hikaru immediately felt a pang of guilt. How could he stop loving her, even for five short seconds?

Haruhi gently tugged on his hand twice, and he slowly crawled back underneath the sheets. This time, however, Haruhi curled back up into that ball and nuzzled up against Hikaru's chest.

There was something peculiar about the way Hikaru held her. Protectively, almost possessively, but there was one other little thing Haruhi couldn't name. Lust? No, that couldn't be it. Haruhi brushed away the idea as soon as it had come into her mind. Hikaru wasn't interested in her, not romantically. She dreamt of gold colored eyes that night.

At around twelve o'clock that night, as Hikaru lay there, he breathed in Haruhi's strawberry scent. When he exhaled, his breath carried a faint, "I love you."

* * *

***cue mocking voice***

**"How could he stop loving her, even for five short seconds?"**

**"She dreamt of gold colored eyes that night."**

**"When he exhaled, his breath carried a faint, 'I love you.'"**

**CORNY! How dare I let words like this come out of my fingers!? What trickery is this!? Reveal yourself, tiny beast!**

**There was some confusion over the last chapter about whether the story ended or not. Obviously, it's not over. I'm not about to end it with only Hikaru, Kaoru, and Mori confessing their undying love for Haruhi! Ahahah! This story's probably going to have 5-10 chapters left. I know, I know, very wide range, but whatever. I'm not so sure about where this is going. I plan on doing the order from here on out Kyoya, Honey, then Tamaki. We've gotta save the King for last! After Tamaki, I'm intending on leaving maybe 3-5 chapters for whoever wins the vote and Haruhi to get together. Other than that, well, your guess is as good as mine as to what's going to happen to our dear characters. Actually, better than mine, since you're the ones deciding on the pairing. -_-**

**I am SO incredibly sorry for the OOCness. Apparently, Haruhi's on the swim team, Mori's good with electricity, and Tamaki doesn't care either way if Hikaru rapes Haruhi or not.**

**KIDDING!**

_**(1)**_** Alexandre Aja, Mark Canton, and Pete Goldfinger are the producers and/or directors of Piranha. I hate that movie. Maybe I should let them watch The Phantom of the Opera instead, yeah?**

**_recherche— _means uh, recherche.**

**_élégance rafinée— _refined elegance  
**

**_sans cervelle— _brainless  
**

** _Ma fille chérie n'a pas simplement plonger hors d'un plongeoir! Elle est devenue quelque chose de beau, quelque chose de la grâce! Elle était comme une belle sirène sautant d'un rocher et dans l'eau de mer glaciale vers le bas ci-dessous. Elle— _My darling daughter did not just jump off a diving board! She became something beautiful, something of grace! She was like a beautiful mermaid jumping from a rock into the icy sea water down below. It-**

**MY COMPUTER WON'T TAKE FRENCH! RAAAAHHH! BLEGHMIGNIANPRETILAFY! It didn't take that nonsense word, either.**

**Another thing, kind of unrelated to this story. To you Twilight fans out there, I'm rewriting a story that I wrote a long time ago, called Upside Down. I plan on deleting it once I finish rewriting and uploading the first chapter, mostly because it is unbearably horrible. It was back when my writing style still sucked and I was still learning English and relying too much on a thesaurus. So, if you want to read the original, then you can go ahead because I might be ****reuploading it in a week or two. Or three or four. Or five.**

**I think that when I finish this, I might actually make a sequel. Locked In, perhaps? ^_^ Go ahead and tell me what you think, because, as the story's not finished, I'm a bit iffy with it and can't think too far into the future.**

**Well, there you have it! Again, I'm sorry for the really bad and OOC chapter- Hikaru's hard to work with. But either way, I figured you guys deserved a longer chapter since I haven't updated in a while. **

**Please review and vote!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Kyoya: 9  
Mori: 19  
Hikaru: 28  
Kaoru: 15  
Honey: 2  
Tamaki: 1**

**Hikaru's still in the lead, and Mori's in second place by 9 votes. After this chapter, there should be around two more left before the voting closes and the pairing is decided. I'll also start taking guest votes again starting the release of this chapter. I want to give everybody the chance to vote before I finish up the story.**

**One more thing: if you want to vote for Hikaru and/or Kaoru, please don't tell me "one of the twins." In that case, I'll have to choose either one or be forced to exclude your vote. Tell me your first choice of the twins, then tell me the second. Thank you!**

* * *

Hikaru woke up to two things: the first one being the surprising heat, and the second one being Tamaki screaming.

He still had a firm and tight grip around Haruhi. His chest was pressed into her back, and his arms were around her waist. His nose was still buried in her strawberry-scented hair. Her head leaned upwards and back into his chest so her face tilted towards his. As for his legs, they were so tangled in the sheets and with the petite girl's own smooth ones that he could barely tell which ones were his.

Tamaki was screaming so loud Ranka must have heard him from the undersea resort he was at. Heck, somewhere out there the Martians were wondering where the ghastly noise was coming from. At least they would know who to blame if an extraterrestrial attack befell the Earth.

"WAAH! MOTHER! LOOK AT WHAT HIKARU'S DOING TO OUR DAUGHTER! THAT POSITION IS COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE! TELL ME WHAT YOU DID LAST NIGHT, NASTY CLONE!"

Only now did Hikaru realize what this probably looked like. After all, Haruhi was underneath the sheets, and he was shirtless (he had taken his shirt off once the Hosts moved to his and Kaoru's room, when it had gotten too hot with all of them there). All they could have seen was Haruhi's neck up, and him from his torso up. Oops.

Kaoru was trying extremely hard not to laugh. It was pretty funny, seeing him biting his lip, eyebrows raised, and head down.

Hikaru sighed and glanced over at the club. It seemed like the whole gang was here.

"Boss, shut up. You're going to wake up Haruhi."

Tamaki fell silent at once. Looked like the rest of the world wasn't going to have to use those missiles to attack Japan anymore. After all, they couldn't have Tamaki endangering the entire planet by breaking the aliens' eardrums.

Haruhi let out a cute little grunt and squirmed a little in Hikaru's vise grip.

Hikaru ignored the Hosts who were just standing there and brushed his nose back along the top of Haruhi's head. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep before he felt someone grab his ankle from under the covers (so _that's _where that was) and drag him towards the group. He let go of Haruhi and kept being dragged down until he landed on his bottom at the foot of the bed with a thud. Why the heck didn't Kaoru put a foot board there?

When he looked up, Tamaki was standing over him like a mother would to a child who just broke her precious vase.

"Now, young man, why were you holding Haruhi like that?"

"Boss, I'm only a year younger than you..."

"Answer my question, Hikaru!"

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you she was cold."

"That's it? Promise? You're really telling the truth?"

"Duh."

Tamaki put his finger to his chin in thought.

"I suppose you _were _just doing what we told you. Keeping Haruhi warm, I mean. Alright, Hikaru, you can go back to sleep now!"

Hikaru sighed and got up. He was too awake now to go back to sleep. And it would be too warm now that the heater was back on. Speaking of which...

"Hey, Boss, why is so warm?"

Honey answered in place of Tamaki.

"Takashi got up at around one in the morning to fix the heater! It was getting too hot, but if we all left, then it would be too cold. So he went downstairs and fixed the generator so that we could all go back to our rooms."

Hikaru looked up at the senior. Honey had told the truth— the answer was evident in Mori's face. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was mussed. He must have stayed down in the basement for a while fixing the heater. At least he hadn't gotten frostbite.

"Thanks, Mori-senpai," everyone turned to Haruhi, who was groggily starting to sit up. "Although now we're going to have to watch Piranha. Can't we do something else, Tamaki-senpai?"

Mori grinned, and winked at Haruhi, who gave out a squawk-like noise.

"It's alright... Haru-chan." He said, scaring the living daylights out of Haruhi. "You know, that little noise you made right now was pretty cute."

Haruhi shrieked. She resisted the urge to tackle up to the impostor and scream, 'WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MORI-SENPAI?'

Of course, she didn't, as she was Haruhi. Instead, she settled for a nervous cough and changing the subject.

"Um... right. Anyway, Tamaki-senpai, you never did answer my question."

Tamaki perked up.

"Oh, that's right! I didn't! Well, I suppose we could watch a different movie."

"Well, maybe we could just do something more productive? We could cook, or clean, or do the laundry or something." Haruhi suggested. She realized right off the bat how ridiculous that sounded. The Host Club doing laundry? Here comes the apocalypse! Generally everyone in the Host Club snorted, and Haruhi was not exempt.

"Never mind, guys. But either way, I'm not watching Piranha."

"Alright then!" Tamaki struck a dramatic pose as the rest of the club rolled their eyes. "We'll watch Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'The Phantom of the Opera!' The most beautiful story ever told! One of love and lust, hate and passion, desire and manipulation! Who will the young and beautiful soprano, Miss Christine Daaé choose? Her lover, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, her childhood sweetheart? He is the man of her dreams, the one who can shield her from the dark turmoils of the world. But! Look at this! Here comes another man, Erik, the Phantom of the Opera! The Angel of Music promised to her by her father! The-"

"Shut up, senpai, you're acting like one of those corny soap opera announcers." Haruhi deadpanned.

A look of terror flashed across Tamaki's face.

"But my darling daughter! I was just telling you what the Phantom of the Opera is about!"

"I already know what it was about; I had to do a book report on it in middle school. It's about this singer, Christine Daaé, and she has to choose between her normal boyfriend Raoul or the 'ghost' who threatens to kill him, the Phantom. It's really not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Haruhi! It's about-"

"It's about whether or not her loyalty towards some guy in a mask outweighs her fear and hate for him. And in the end, it doesn't. Can't we watch something else?"

Here, Kyoya spoke up.

"Like what, Haruhi?"

"Well the theory of thermodynamic ferroelectric transition is pretty interesting—"

"Phantom of the Opera it is!" Hikaru and Kaoru cheered.

"_The _Phantom of the Opera!" Tamaki corrected.

Nobody was listening, obviously.

Haruhi groaned and swung her feet over the side of the bed. She headed over to the closet and locked herself in with a loud slam. Tamaki was the first to start pounding on the door.

"HARUHI? Oh, my little girl, did daddy upset? Did mommy upset you? Did your brothers upset you? I'm sorry! Please come out and speak with daddy! Talking makes it all better! If you want, we can even talk about the theory of thermodyna_myuhmyuhnyuhnyah_!" Tamaki trailed off and started mumbling the last bit. Right— Haruhi was one of the smartest in the group.

"Relax, senpai..." Haruhi came out of the closet in an entirely different outfit. She was wearing white skinny jeans that were rolled up to mid-calf. The jeans had fashionable tears in them. She wore a yellow top with ruffles down the middle and a high circle collar with a dangerously low back. Again, she wore the metallic rosy slippers, but this time, they actually made her look quite cute rather than disgruntled. She gave the Hosts a graceful smile, the one that coined as the natural type.

"I was only getting changed."

Tamaki turned completely red. Mori grinned again (oh no!) while Honey giggled on top of his shoulders. The twins, meanwhile, were cracking up.

"See? I told you she'd wear it!"

Haruhi frowned.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, don't get too used to it. I wouldn't have worn it if Hikaru hadn't stayed with me last night. Otherwise I probably wouldn't be alive right now. And I didn't pick it out myself! You laid it out for me, remember? You dared me to wear it during truth or dare, but I wore those ridiculous pajamas instead."

"Oh yeah." Hikaru and Kaoru snickered. "_Truth or_ _Dare_. Wasn't that fun?"

"No, not really." Haruhi's smile grew just a little bit in amusement. "You dared me to wear the pajamas and then the rest of the club came in. And I'm only wearing this so you can't hold it over my head that Hikaru stayed with me. Speaking of which, I never got to thank you for that." Haruhi turned her brilliant smile towards the twin. "Thank you, Hikaru."

Hikaru turned a furious shade of scarlet. With those sharp, swirling pools of sweet caramel trained on him, it was impossible not to. He bit his lip and looked down in an attempt not to look too excited. When he spoke, it came out as more of an uncaring mumble.

"Yeah, no problem." He cleared his throat as if he were trying to compose. "Haruhi, your outfit's cute and all, but you won't get anywhere without good hair and makeup."

Haruhi backpedaled.

"No. You only said I had to—" Before she could finish, she was dragged off to the bathroom by Hikaru and Kaoru. Tamaki still looked confused.

Hikaru and Kaoru left the bathroom after five minutes and ran into the closet. They emerged with a pair of wedges with a yellow bow. Haruhi, Hikaru, and Kaoru came out fifteen minutes later. A very grouchy Haruhi stomped as well as she could with heels on.

"I don't get it. Why a summery look when we're in the middle of a blizzard? And why heels? We're inside, it's not like I'm going anywhere."

Hikaru and Kaoru shrugged.

"You're talking to the guys that made over a club room to look like a tropical rainforest in the dead of winter."

Haruhi held up a finger and smirked just a little bit.

"That's true." She turned towards Kyoya. "Hey, senpai, since I don't have anything else to do today, I can help you look for your glasses."

Kyoya decided this was the best choice. It was either Haruhi or Tamaki, and he was definitely going to go with Haruhi. It wasn't like the blond had volunteered yet, anyway. Kyoya shrugged.

"Alright. Thank you, Haruhi. I'll need my glasses to watch the movie anyway. Haruhi responded with another smile and went downstairs to make breakfast after she kicked off those ridiculous heels. Honey knowingly grinned up at Tamaki.

"Hey, Tama-chan? Maybe we should have told her how flirty Takashi gets when he's tired?"

* * *

After breakfast was all finished and the dishes were all washed, Haruhi helped Kyoya look for his glasses. She wished she hadn't offered.

The ungrateful jerk would yell at her every step they took. Slow down, Haruhi, speed up, Haruhi, try this door, Haruhi, skip this door, Haruhi. The Shadow King was so high maintenance. Before today, Haruhi wouldn't have thought this level of arrogance existed.

She dragged him through the halls by the arm, careful not to run him into any walls. _Any damage done to me, Haruhi, will be added onto your ever growing debt._

Haruhi frowned as she was yelled out for the millionth time that day. Whether it was a, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER?" or a "Play this game with us, Haruhi!" or even an innocent "Haru-chan! Wanna have a cake with me?", Haruhi wasn't so sure if she could keep a handle on her temper if she got yelled at one more time.

"Haruhi! Quit daydreaming and let's get back to work finding my glasses!"

Haruhi spun around so quickly she found herself looking straight into the eyes of the Shadow King. He had hunched over a little while they were walking so he could reach Haruhi's hand as she led him around, and now they were nose to nose.

Kyoya was so close Haruhi almost thought she had backed up into two silver mirrors. His eyes were wide in surprise. Haruhi's own chocolate ones were narrowed in displeasure.

"Shut up, Kyoya," she growled through her teeth, not even bothering to use honorifics. "I'm not your slave. You're lucky I'm even helping you in the first place. I expect to see a lower number on my debt once we find your glasses."

Kyoya was stunned. He had known Haruhi could be assertive, but never like this. This was an order, not a request or negotiation. She was flat out telling him what to do.

He mirrored Haruhi's annoyed glare.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"And the same goes for you, Ootori."

With that, she yanked on his hand to finish walking down the flight of stairs. Bad went to worse when Haruhi miscalculated the momentum she would need to pull him down and they both tumbled down the stairs in a heap. And just like that, Kyoya had landed squarely on top of Haruhi.

Haruhi gasped for air at the impact. This was like deja vu from the beach house. She felt annoyed. Although most of the reason for that was because this was her fault.

Haruhi gave Kyoya a graceless shove.

"Like a bad romantic comedy movie..." She grumbled.

"Good move, Haruhi. You're lucky I didn't get hurt. That—"

"Could have been added to my debt?"

"Exactly."

Kyoya gave a smirk in her general direction. What, was he seeing double or something?

Haruhi made a note to herself not to make any sudden moves. She put her hand on his elbow and led him down a hallway, then finally into a closet in the foyer. There were their schoolbags, all piled up in the corner.

"Whose bag did you say it was in? Tamaki-senpai's?"

"That's right."

They quickly located the bag and pulled Kyoya's glasses out of them. Kyoya gave a sigh in relief. He smiled at Haruhi. His Host smile. Not exactly warm and inviting, but still not (as usual) colder than the weather outside.

"Thanks, Haruhi. I'll take five percent off of your debt."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. Only five percent? Well, that was to be expected. She silently gathered up her books and went upstairs to her room.

As Kyoya was leaving, something that had fallen out of Tamaki's bag caught his eye. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a photo of Tamaki and Haruhi: Tamaki hugging her, and Haruhi's usual annoyed look. However, something about Tamaki's expression was... off. Kyoya instantly felt a swell of jealousy. He knew his best friend was in love with Haruhi. Unfortunately, so was he, he admitted to himself. He scowled. If not for Tamaki, he wouldn't have met Haruhi. If not for Haruhi, he wouldn't have gotten to experience love. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It was a shame he couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

Honey watched as Haruhi confronted the Shadow King quite fearlessly on the steps. He watched the entire scene where Haruhi and Kyoya landed in a pile all over the floor. He smiled a small, knowing smile, before turning to leave.

"Well then, Usa-chan... I guess Tama-chan's the only one left. Then the competition truly starts."

* * *

**I need help. I need your opinions on whether or not to actually write a little segment on Honey. True, it would make me feel like a pedophile, but I need to keep all the Hosts fair. Should I just write one for the sake of writing one? Or should I make Honey the little matchmaker? **

**Please chime in with your opinions, and as usual...**

**REVIEW AND VOTE!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Kyoya: 11  
Mori: 27  
Hikaru: 32  
Kaoru: 17  
Honey: 2  
Tamaki: 1**

**Most people suggested I just put Honey in as the matchmaker. So that's what I'm going to do. This is your last chance to vote, since this is the last fluffy moment with a Host I will need to write. Oh, Tama-chan, your stupidity has finally lost to glorious knowledge.**

**Here's a tip to those of you who read my little notes _after _the actual tally: since the voting option wasn't up in Chapters 1 and 2, if you haven't reviewed them yet, you can go back and vote on those two chapters. Consider it as two extra votes. Actually, I will take any reviews from the chapters you _haven't _reviewed on. ;D Just saying!**

**However, I am still not taking guest reviews.**

* * *

Haruhi was in the middle of studying when one firm knock on her door interrupted her. She blew her hair out of her face and tried to untangle her fingers from the ribbon so that she could actually open the door. It was Mori. It appeared that he was back to his normal self.

"Haruhi. We're watching the movie now. I managed to fix the electricity, but it will probably only stay on for a few hours."

Haruhi nodded, but frowned. That meant it would be cold again tonight. With any luck (as if she had any; she managed to get snowed in with the Host Club) it would be warmer tonight. The snow was melting so it was a possibility.

She hoped she could maybe stall until the power ran out. No, that wouldn't work... Tamaki would find a way around that. He would probably go to her house with the movie and a 152" 3D TV in tow. It was either watch the movie now or suicidal thoughts later.

"Alright. I'll come down later, Mori-senpai. Go ahead and start the movie."

"No. I'll stay here so you don't get lost again."

"Alright."

Haruhi put her books away and tied her hair back with the yellow silk ribbon. She put on a pair of house slippers and joined Mori. They made their way down to the movie theater in the Hitachiin Manor. Haruhi bit back her tongue to keep from cussing the entire time.

They took a seat in the front row. As soon as they did, Tamaki was there, assaulting them and telling them to come sit with him. Haruhi tried to get him to shut up, to no avail.

The rest of the Hosts were already there, except for Hikaru, who was busy getting some snacks. Haruhi sighed. She could have been studying right now. She would give anything to be studying.

Hikaru finally came back with at three bags of popcorn.

"I really didn't know how to make these, but I made them anyway. Here, we're all gonna have to share. I also brought some candy and soda."

"Ah, thank you, mon ami!" Tamaki replied happily.

Within five minutes, the Host Club was watching The Phantom of the Opera. Well, not necessarily the movie. Haruhi frowned as the previews for the latest movies coming out appeared on the screen. Hikaru or Kaoru had mentioned something about their theater being like a real movie theater. She watched as a sound test featuring explosions and voices came on. Apparently, there was surround sound too. Who would need surround sound for a musical?

Pretty soon, the movie was starting. Music box music played in the background while an auctioneer started blabbing on about "Lot 664" or something or other. Was the movie in black and white? Why in the world would the Hosts want to watch something in black and white? Why would some mustached guy spend thirty francs on a monkey? Who would want to buy a broken chandelier?

Yes, Haruhi was quite the critic.

Haruhi's "black and white movie" question was answered after the auctioneer started a bid for Lot 666. Loud pipe organ music blared through the surround sound speakers and all the dust was blown away, turning the movie into a color film. The music, to her, was quite annoying. On screen, dancers and singers bustled around getting ready.

At last, that horrid noise stopped, only to be replaced by a woman's voice screaming (strike that— singing) about a trophy and holding out a head. Then everybody started singing about Rome and elephants.

Needless to say, Haruhi didn't like the movie so far.

"Isn't it wonderful, Haruhi?" Tamaki said next to her.

"Shut up, Boss!" Hikaru and Kaoru hissed from somewhere behind her.

"It's not really that good. It's kinda boring."

"Haruhi, be quiet, or I'll add ten percent to your debt. We're trying to watch the movie."

"What? They were talking first!"

"Your debt has been raised by ten percent."

"Be quiet, Kyo-chan!"

"Ah. Mitsukuni is right. Everyone quiet."

Everyone shut up after that.

Next, Christine and Raoul were singing about "Little Lotte."

"Do they mean Carlotta?" Tamaki asked Haruhi.

"No."

"That's another ten percent to your debt, Haruhi."

Haruhi just rolled her eyes.

Soon, a voice was singing about an insolent boy who was a slave of fashion, basking in Christine's glory. The voice was coming out of nowhere, rather than leaving to get the police, Christine just sang back._ Really, Christine? _Haruhi thought. _It's a man's voice, in your room, and you're alone, but you just stand there_?

Then the two of them walked down the hall to a horse. Again, Haruhi wondered where in the world the Phantom got the horse. Then where he got the boat... Then where he got all of those little trinkets in his mancave.

"What a creep," Haruhi grumbled, when the Phantom showed Christine the mannequin. Then she fainted and he put her in his bed. Haruhi frowned.

The rest of the movie continued on like this, with The Phantom, Christine, or Raoul doing anything and Haruhi judging every little detail.

Until they got to the cemetery scene.

_Wishing you were somehow here again..._

Haruhi's heart broke.

_Wishing you were somehow near..._

She tried not to cry.

_Sometimes it seemed, if I just dreamed.._.

Tears threatened to spill out.

_Somehow you would be here..._

Haruhi put her face in her palms. There was no way she would let the Hosts see her cry.

_Wishing I could hear your voice again, knowing I never would..._

A tear came out her left eye. Then her right.

_Dreaming of you..._

She was silently sobbing by now, her shoulders shaking up and down.

_Won't help me to do..._

By now, her friends were staring at her.

_All that you dreamed I could..._

"Haruhi? Are you alright?" Tamaki's voice interrupted Christine. Haruhi nodded and looked over at the blonde. In the dim light of the screen, Tamaki could see her eyes were rimmed with red.

Just then, it clicked. Haruhi's mother... Christine's father...

Tamaki pulled Haruhi in a hug and stroked her hair.

"It'll all be alright, Haruhi."

Haruhi closed her eyes.

_Help me say goodbye... Help me say goodbye..._

* * *

The Hosts all walked out of the dim movie room together once the movie finished.

"So, Haruhi, did you like it?" The twins asked in unison.

"Yeah, it was really good. I think it's my new favorite movie. Even though I haven't seen very many... either way, it's still my favorite."

"In that case, we'll cosplay it once school starts back up!" Tamaki said with a flourish, trying to keep Haruhi's mind off of... that little moment earlier.

"Do you think Christine made the right choice, choosing Raoul?" Kyoya asked, pushing up his glasses as if to make sure they were still there.

"Yeah."

"No, of course not!" Tamaki spoke up again. "The poor Phantom! All he wanted was love! Everybody's looking for love, and the Phantom deserves it more than anybody!"

"No, he doesn't. He's just like everybody else. He thought he was above the law just because he loved Christine and would do anything for her."

"If I were in Christine's situation, I would stay with the Phantom!" Tamaki insisted.

"Okay, but keep in mind he only loved her for her voice," Haruhi held up a finger before Tamaki could object. "Also, he kidnapped, threatened, and murdered his way through the entire movie. If Christine say, lost her voice, The Phantom wouldn't have anymore use for her and kill her."

"That's not true! He knew she had a kind enough heart to love him!"

"But she didn't. Love him, I mean. And when she didn't, he threw a little hissy fit and went on to murder two men, kidnap Christine, and threaten to kill Raoul if she didn't stay with him. He gave her the... ultimate ultimatum." Haruhi smiled a little at her corny pun, while a few of the other Hosts told her how cute that was. In their heads, of course.

Tamaki was finally silent, having lost this debate.

Honey frowned a little at this exchange.

_It'll happen soon,_ he thought. _Tamaki's going to have to realize it sooner or later... It'll be interesting, to see how all of this plays out._

* * *

That night was warm enough for Haruhi to stay in her room on her own. She thought over the movie she had just seen. Her mother would have loved it. Her mother probably would have stayed in the Phantom. Just thinking about that song made her eyes pool with tears. She remembered her mother: her mother singing, laughing... she remembered her mother's nimble fingers dancing over the strings of the harp at the music store. They had never been able to afford one, and they had been saving up, but then...

Haruhi was up and heading towards the Hitachiins' music room before she had even made a conscious decision to. She _did _remember seeing a harp somewhere in there...

* * *

Tamaki hummed _Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again _in his mind as he stared up at the ceiling. Poor Haruhi... She was worse off than he remembered. She truly did miss her mother. But there was something to _him _that was off about that song. Something about his own mother.

Although, he certainly could not relate to Haruhi or Christine. There was actually a possibility he could see his mother again. He remembered Lady Eclair, his would be fiance from France. She had actually given him a call a few weeks after the Ouran Fair, telling him she knew where his mother was. They already had a scheduled date for him to see her again in a few weeks. He could hardly wait.

Remembering his mother, he smiled. He got out of bed, his fingers itching to play her favorite song. He walked down to the music room.

* * *

Haruhi hadn't played the harp ever since her mother died. Her relatives had always said she would grow up to become a musical prodigy. She had only laughed. She wasn't _that _good, and she could barely sing. Then her mother died, and she'd stopped. However, once you've learned something, you can't _un-_learn it.

She hummed the melody to herself as she played the song she had only learned today. When she finished, she closed her eyes and smiled.

Applause made her jump. She definitely hadn't expected that. She turned to the doorway, where Tamaki was leaning.

"Well, well, well. I come down here to play piano, but rather I find a harpist. How come you didn't tell us?"

Haruhi blushed a little, which was very uncharacteristic for her.

"My mother taught me how to play."

This may have not answered the question to anybody else, but Tamaki understood.

"So it hurt too much?"

Haruhi looked away and played a few random chords. Before she knew it, she was playing All I Ask of You. Tamaki laughed.

"Looks like you've been visited by the Angel of Music yourself, Haruhi."

Haruhi joined him in his laughter.

"I don't really think so. Well, not unless my mother's the Angel. Like I said, she taught me."

"Could be. Looks like we really didn't know as much about you as we thought we did. I mean, first you're a swimmer, now you're a harpist."

Haruhi's head snapped up. She paused mid-song.

"How did you know I was on the swim team?"

"Kyoya told us."

"Screw that all-knowing Shadow King." Haruhi said, turning back towards the harp and picking back up where she left off.

"How come you didn't tell us?" Tamaki said, tilting his head just a tiny bit.

"Well, I didn't want you guys to feel guilty or anything. I didn't want you thinking it was your fault I didn't join the swim team here."

Tamaki was silent. Instead of answering, he sat down at the piano and joined Haruhi in a piano and harp duet.

The King of the Host Club frowned. He went up an octave to imitate Christine's soprano voice. The lyrics played through his head and the melody played through his fingers.

_Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime..._

How come he felt like Raoul?

_Say the word and I will follow you..._

Raoul felt love towards Christine...

_Share each day with me, each night, each morning..._

And Tamaki felt the same way towards Haruhi...

_Say you love me... You know I do..._

So if he felt like Raoul... towards Haruhi... then wouldn't he have to be feeling...

_Love me, that's all I ask of—_

Tamaki abruptly stopped playing. Haruhi, however, kept playing, her eyes closed in concentration.

Love.

It had to be love. That was the only thing that explained it. It wasn't just a fatherly sort of love. He harbored romantic feelings towards Haruhi. And when his friends told him he was an idiot whenever he said he was her father...

How in the world did they find out before he did?

He glanced over at Haruhi. Was it possible she knew? Could she tell? It wouldn't be too farfetched. He gulped. What to do now? He turned back to the piano, breathing heavily. And with more understanding than before, he closed his eyes and started to play.

* * *

On the other side of the door, all but two members of the Ouran High School Host Club listened to the beautiful music that couldn't have come from anywhere but the Angel of Music himself.

* * *

**Ah! I finished this chapter! At last. **

**I swear, as far as OOC-ness goes, I'm getting worse and worse by the day. Not by the update, but by the day. Poor Haruhi, being twisted and bent in every single way possible. Swimmer, then harpist? **

**(obediently jumps off cliff as angry mob said)**

**Although, I suppose she would need to know _some _music to get into Ouran. She had to get all A's, etc.**

**Shut up! I know music's an elective, but in my world, it's mandatory, okay?!**

**Also, guess what my new obsession is! It starts with a "The Phantom" and ends with "of the Opera." Go ahead! Guess! Guess! Didja get it? Good! I hope you all don't mind, because Erik, Raoul, and Christine are going to be showing up in my stories A LOT from here on out. Or until I find a better movie, which is practically impossible. The first day I saw it, I watched it at least seventeen times. Kidding! That's not possible, because it's like, two hours and forty one minutes long or something. But who's counting?**

**Remember everybody, this is your last chance to vote. Next chapter, I will add the second character to the title thing and oh-fish-ally announce the pairing. Ok, ok guys, no need to give me the evil bass. I was just squidding. Shell I stop? Well, sorry, but this conversation hasn't gone adrift yet. All I need is your seal of approval. You can bait this is gonna go on for a while. Oh my Cod, guys, start laughing, already! Have I given you a haddock yet? I know, I know, I need professional kelp. Sorry if you don't understand the puns and I need to be more Pacific. I'm shore some of you find this funny? And maybe some of you can't sand it. It'll be funnier once you look at it from a different angler. But once any of can find a better place for fish jokes, let minnow! Fin! I'll stop! Since most of you beaches probably don't know what I'm docking about. Buoy, what a tough crowd.**

**(clears throat) Sorry, I guess I got whale too carried away at "oh-fish-ally." I don't even know why I wrote all of those jokes, since they had absolutely no porpoise. Although, I _do _have many more in my sharksenal. I'll end this installment of _Snowed In _with a wave and my usual message:**

**REVIEW, AND FLOAT!**

**P.S.  
Haha! Sea what I did there?**


	11. Chapter 11

**AND THE WINNER IS...**

**DRUMROLL PLEASE...**

**HIKARU HITACHIIN!**

**Just so some of you don't go into freak out mode, Hikaru won fair and square. He would've won no matter what happened, whether I said you could go back and vote or not. Despite all that funky stuff with the reviews, Hikaru won. If you're not happy with it, well then, it's your choice to keep reading or find a different story to read where your favorite host and Haruhi go riding off into the sunset, singing about true love's kiss and whatnot. I'll post the final tally in the ending author's note, if any of you want to read it. Hikaru won by a landslide... Looked like he was gonna win, then Mori was, then he got ahead again. Oh, silly, silly Host Club, confusing the heck out of all of us. **

**PLEASE NO FLAMES! If you're angry with this, sorry, but don't be like the Phantom and, in Haruhi's words, don't "Throw a little hissy fit and go on to murder two men, kidnap Christine, and threaten to kill Raoul if she doesn't stay with him." Remember: keep the negativity to yourself. I certainly don't want mean things up on my reviews page where everybody else has to put up with it. **

**Also something to remember: I had absolutely _NO _SAY IN THIS WHATSOEVER. No, I did not rig the votes, nor did I add on my own, etc. etc. I had nobody in mind that I wanted to win. I'm sure you recall me saying I wanted to write something outside of my comfort zone? Well this here story was my way of doing so.**

* * *

Haruhi woke up that morning, feeling quite refreshed. Tamaki had left as soon as the song was over that night, looking very flustered and blushing when she asked him where he was going.

"To sleep," he had replied, running into the door frame gracelessly. Haruhi had just smiled.

"Alright. You have fun with that. And be careful on your way down."

"Yes! Right, careful. Thank you Haruhi!" He wandered out the door. Haruhi heard a crash a few seconds later, followed by a "Boss!" She hoped that whatever he broke wasn't expensive. That probably would have been added onto her debt. Kyoya just had a way of blaming her for everything. She shrugged, happy that she didn't get a lecture on how Daddy was always careful.

She was just getting up out of bed when she heard the smoke alarm go off, then the high pitched blare slowly spread to her room. She bolted down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Hikaru was shouting and batting at one of the open oven doors with a dish towel. The room was filled with smoke. Haruhi coughed, and propped open the door.

"Hikaru!"

"Haruhi?"

"What are you doing?" She shouted over the wail.

"Help me get the noise to stop!"

Haruhi turned on the vent fan, opened the windows, then ran out of the room. She returned a little while later with a stand fan and somebody's random jacket. Judging from the size, it was probably Kyoya's.

She waved the jacket in the air, fanning the smoke away. If only she could find the alarm, then she could turn it off.

By the time the smoke cleared, everybody was standing in the doorway, with the most amused little smiles on their faces. None of them had even bothered to help, all just preferring to stand there and watch the little scene unfold. Kyoya was on Haruhi's case almost immediately.

"Haruhi, now that jacket is going to smell like smoke. I hope you're pleased with yourself, because the clients won't want to have to wonder if I took up smoking or not. The amount for the dry cleaners will be added to your debt, and if that won't do it, a new jacket."

Haruhi groaned. Out of all the things she had to use to get the smoke alarm to turn off, she had to use the Shadow King's jacket. She threw it at him.

"Fine. I hate you and your notebook, you know."

Kyoya chuckled humorlessly as his glasses glared. He turned away, writing in that dreaded notebook of his. Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"Get out of here, guys, I don't want any of you developing asthma and having the medical bills added onto my debt."

She shooed everyone out of the room.

"That was pretty harsh."

Haruhi jumped and turned around to see Hikaru bent over to eye level and grinning almost evilly at her.

"Hikaru. I forgot you were here. Out."

"Haruhi, you can't kick me out of my own kitchen." Hikaru said, his grin turning into a smirk. _That _look flashed in his eyes. The look that held the exact same emotion as the way he held her on that night they had no electricity. The emotion that Haruhi couldn't name.

Haruhi tried to shake off that odd little nagging feeling.

"I kicked Kaoru out. I need to make breakfast, since it's quite obvious _you _can't. Why did you try, though? Kaoru told me you haven't cooked a meal in your life."

Hikaru's mischievous smile disappeared. He coughed awkwardly. Nervously.

"Well uh... Actually, I was kinda trying to make breakfast for you.

Haruhi's sharp stare turned softened.

"Thank you, Hikaru. That was actually really thoughtful."

Hikaru cleared his throat again. He mumbled a thanks and fake stories about how he did it only for completely selfish reasons. None of which Haruhi believed. A smile grew on her face and she held up a finger to shut him up.

"Hikaru, you know what? That doesn't really matter anymore. Why don't I help you?"

"Wouldn't _I _be helping _you_?"

"You were the one with the idea in the first place. So technically, no."

Hikaru mumbled something again.

"Quit mumbling and speak clearly. People will take you more seriously that way."

Hikaru responded with another mumble, and the two of them got to work.

Since the snow would probably melt in a day or two, they used up more of the food than they usually would. They even made a few cakes for Honey, who was going through withdrawals. When they were finished, they had two strawberry cakes, a pot of oatmeal, and a dozen stacks of pancakes.

They set the food out on the table. Everyone else was around doing their own business. Haruhi went back into the kitchen to get some syrup, followed by Hikaru. He was staring at her the entire time.

"Haruhi?"

"Yes, Hikaru?"

"I..." He broke off and muttered the rest of the sentence.

"Sorry, what? I didn't catch that."

"I said I..." He did the same thing again. Both of them were starting to get irritated.

"Hikaru," Haruhi sighed in exasperation. "Speak up. I'm not a mind reader." Hikaru bit his lip and cleared his throat. His face was red.

"Haruhi, I... I, uh..."

He never finished the sentence. Before Haruhi could lecture him again, he pressed his lips to hers. She tasted sweet, like strawberries and vanilla.

Haruhi was, needless to say, shocked. His lips were warm, coaxing her. They molded with hers flawlessly. She had almost expected them to be more demanding. For a while she just stood there, stunned. She was panicking on the inside.

Hikaru cupped her cheek in his hand, pleading her to return the kiss.

So she did.

* * *

**Hmm... That seemed a little rushed to me. Oh, well! You win some, you learn some. Well, that's the last of this story you're gonna see. Other than the epilogue. I'm probably gonna add an epilogue or a spinoff story. But other than that, this is the last you're gonna see of Haruhi snowed in with the Hosts. The rest is up to your imagination (because I have no idea how to end it). **

**Also! Please vote on the poll on my profile! I'm debating a sequel or not. Of course, it's going to have to be HikaruxHaruhi, since that was how this ended...**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed the story everybody! Sorry if you didn't; nothing I can do about that at this point. You are still welcome to review, obviously, and thank you SO much to everybody that did that, or voted. So many I can't name all of you, but you know who you are.**

**Here was the final tally:**

******Kyoya: 14  
Mori: 42  
Hikaru: 51  
Kaoru: 19  
Honey: 11  
Tamaki: 1**

**I heart you all!**

**~Kit~**


	12. Epilogue: Part One

**PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT BOTTOM**

"Kyoya! Mon ami, I just had the most amazing idea!"

"Oh, really? Is this one good?"

"Of course! I just said it was amazing!"

"All of your ideas have been, quote-unquote 'amazing' ever since Hikaru and Haruhi started dating. They always involve getting the two of them in a closer relationship or celebrating their anniversary by the day. And all of them end with the already happy couple inflicting physical or psychological damage upon you."

"No, no! This one has nothing to do with Hikaru and Haruhi's relationship. Just hear me out!"

Kyoya sighed. With the puppy dog eyes Tamaki was giving him, it was impossible not to relent.

After they had all gotten snowed in at the Hitachiin twins' house, Hikaru and Haruhi had promptly gotten together. Of course, not everybody was happy with this. In fact, Kyoya surprised himself by acting the most childish about it. He had actually tried to break them up once or twice. Or thrice. A lot of times, actually. It had taken intervention from Honey, threats from Kaoru (that had kept him awake for weeks), a nice, long talk from Mori, and at least five punches in the gut and smacks upside the head from Tamaki, before he had stopped and grudgingly accepted that the two of them belonged together. He had gotten over it after a few months and had started dating one of his clients. In secret, of course.

As for the rest of the Host Club, it had taken them some time to get over it, but eventually, they did. Of course, Haruhi had never even known of their feelings for her in the first place. A while after his nineteenth birthday, Mori had actually started dating (and was now planning to propose to) an heiress two years younger than him and a lot like Honey. Haruhi and Amelie, Mori's soon-to-be fiance, had become fast friends. Amelie was of French descent, so as soon as she had met Tamaki, they had confused the heck out of everyone by having full conversations in French. Hikaru and Haruhi were now in their second year and showed no signs of slowing down.

Haruhi had revealed their gender about a month after she had started dating Hikaru. Her clients had actually taken this quite nicely, and usually came to her for doses of reality. Kanako, who Haruhi had accidentally kissed at the dance party, was mortified for only a short while, but had become friends with Haruhi.

Of course, Haruhi dating Hikaru and her gender reveal ignited some envy in the student body. Among the girls, ex-customer Ayanokoji had tried to pull a few vindictive stunts again Haruhi. As soon as she tried to execute her first plan, the entire Host Club was after her head. Needless to say, she was so terrified she dropped everything and was enrolled in Lobelia in record time with a hasty apology to Haruhi and a few less-than-subtle threats from Hikaru.

As for the boys at Ouran Academy, most of them were pursuing Haruhi. So _this _explained the scholar student's feminine appearance. Haruhi was generally oblivious to her suitors' advances (when was she not?), and most of the time, Hikaru would just take care of them. Without her knowing, obviously. When it came to his girlfriend, Hikaru could be more terrifying than tired Kyoya and tired Honey put together. However, there would occasionally be the specifically persistent boy who would think that he could woo the Host-turned-Hostess into his claws and steal her for himself. Boys like that needed special attention from all the Hosts.

Kasanoda had been a good friend throughout all of this, also, pushing back the hordes of boys that had a tendency to follow her from a distance. He had long since gotten over Haruhi when he had realized she couldn't see past the nose on her face.

Hikaru's parents had approved of the relationship, as an added bonus, finding Haruhi a rather charming girl who could actually soothe Hikaru's temper with her levelheadedness.

Yes, Kyoya had to grudgingly admit that school (and profits) had gotten better since Haruhi had started dating Hikaru. School, since he had finally been able to let go of Haruhi and find Rin, his girlfriend. Profits, since now both boys and girls requested Haruhi.

"Kyoya?"

Tamaki waved a hand in front of Kyoya's face, bringing him back down to Earth.

"Yes, Tamaki?" Tamaki studied him for a while, then gave a short laugh.

"You were gone for a while, there, my friend! Anyway, I was saying, I had an idea."

"I'm listening." Kyoya eyed his friend suspiciously.

"Okay! Well, remember when we were all snowed in at the Hitachiin Manor, we watched The Phantom of the Opera?"

"Oh, please, no..."

"We will cosplay as the characters of The Phantom of the Opera, then after hosting hours, at night, we'll do the actual musical!"

"I was sort of hoping you'd forget about this."

"I already have the characters planned out and everything!"

"You know Haruhi hates to sing."

"Hikaru will be the Phantom! I will be Raoul, obviously, and Christine will be portrayed by our own Haruhi! You and Mori-senpai will be the Andre and Firmin, Kaoru shall be Piangi, and Honey will be Carlotta!"

"What in the world?"

"I've already recruited Mori-senpai's girlfriend, Amelie to be Meg Giry! She has a French accent and everything! Satoshi will be Joseph Buquet, and your girlfriend, Rin, will be Madame Giry! Chika refused to play a part, but he agreed to help with the lighting and— "

"Why the cross-dressing, out of curiosity?"

"Isn't it genius, Kyoya? And Haruhi's voice has actually developed, so she can reach some of those high notes."

Kyoya put adjusted his glasses and tapped his pen against his chin in thought. Holding a musical would certainly be beneficial to the Host Club. It would be publicity (as if they needed any), and if executed correctly, Kyoya could see their profits raising by a good seventy-five percent. He could also sell a mountain's worth of merchandise in this. He could see no drawbacks or flaws in the plan.

"Very well, Tamaki. We'll go through with it."

The King squealed in glee.

"We'll go through with what?"

Haruhi had appeared at one point or another. She smoothed out the folds of her yellow dress and pushed back her curled hair, which was now a little way below her shoulders. She bit her strawberry glossed bottom lip. Hikaru was definitely rubbing off on her. Her voice had even gotten a little higher and more feminine, but not in a ditsy way. She was still definitely the sensible, no-nonsense Haruhi.

"Haruhi! Hello!"

"Hi, Tamaki-senpai. Now what are we going through with?"

"We're going to be holding a musical! Isn't that great? I have the roles planned out and everything."

Haruhi groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Are you serious?"

Kyoya chuckled mirthlessly, while Tamaki laughed an over-exaggerated laugh.

"Of course I'm serious! Why wouldn't I be?" Haruhi put a finger to her chin in thought.

"That's actually not a bad idea, though. It would actually benefit the club."

Tamaki started squealing about how his darling daughter thought so much like mother nowadays. Haruhi held up a hand to stop him.

"Maybe we should twist things up a little, and Christine should end up with the Phantom. I'm sure our clients wouldn't be expecting it, and it would boost our request rates."

Kyoya smirked and adjusted his glasses. If he didn't know better, he would think he was actually Haruhi's mother, his gender notwithstanding. She thought like him so much it was a little strange.

Tamaki thought over this for a while.

"Smart girl, Haruhi! It will be original! Oh, I can imagine it now, the lovely Christine Daaé realizing her feelings towards the Phantom are greater than the forces of the waves of fate! Two star-crossed lovers, one living in the world of night and the other—"

"Don't even get started, senpai."

Haruhi and Kyoya discussed the play with her looking over his shoulder at his laptop. Kyoya told her Tamaki's casting choices while Tamaki sulked uncontrollably. They ignored him, of course. However, once Kyoya told Haruhi she would be Christine, Haruhi set her jaw in indignance.

"No! I'm not going to be Christine. Can't you get Rin to do it?"

"See, now, that would work, but Rin's not a Hostess, like you are. Besides, Rin's already playing Madame Giry, remember?"

"I'm still not going to do it."

"You'll get us more profit."

"No."

"If you don't I'll create a new debt for you."

Haruhi's ears perked up at this. Sighing, she grudgingly muttered her agreement. Screw that manipulative Shadow King.

"Haruhi!" One of Haruhi's regular clients, and close friend, Miyuu, called her over with a wave. Haruhi turned, smiled, and asked her to wait a while.

"It's alright, Haruhi, go ahead. We wouldn't want you neglecting your customers." Kyoya clicked on the screen. "There we go. I've booked Ouran's largest theatre for two months from now. Go ahead and tell your clients about it."

Haruhi smiled at him, and headed off towards her customers.

* * *

"Oh, really?" Sakiko, a girl with brown hair and blue eyes inquired, taking a sip of her tea.

"That's so interesting, Haruhi!" Takari had a heart shaped face and brown eyes pushed her blonde hair out of her face.

"Yeah! Do you know what the casting's going to be yet?" Rin raised an eyebrow above her electric blue eyes and shook around her long black hair.

Haruhi smiled at her clients/friends.

"Well, it's not really official. But I have to be Christine, obviously. I only know that, and Amelie's going to be Madame Giry."

Her customers laughed sweetly.

"Amelie is Mori-san's girlfriend, right?"

"That's right, Miyuu." Takari said with a hint of jealousy. Takari had been one of Mori's regular clients, and she had a little... fetish for Mori. Haruhi knew this, because after she had revealed her gender, Takari had become one of her clients. Meaning she had to listen to Takari talk on and on about how sweet and kind and caring and handsome, etc. Mori was. She also had to comfort Takari when she was busy tearing her hair out and sobbing when Mori and Amelie had started dating. She had never completely gotten over that, but Haruhi figured in time she would.

"If you need any help with the sets or characters or anything, I'll help you out. I'm sure Kyoya wouldn't mind. And if he does, I could find a way to... persuade him." Rin's eyes flashed mischievously. Rin was the girl dating Kyoya, and nobody else knew but the Hosts, their relatives, Amelie, and Haruhi's clients for this half-hour: Sakiko, Takari, and Miyuu.

Sakiko nudged Rin with her elbow and smiled.

"Rin, for some reason, when you say that it reeks of something very unladylike."

Haruhi smiled fondly at her friends.

"You can go ahead and ask him, Rin."

Rin nodded and the girls returned to their usual chatter.

Haruhi felt a pair of gold eyes fixed on her. She turned to find Hikaru gazing at her. He smirked a little bit, and raised up a palm in a small wave. Haruhi beamed at him. They had gotten so good with communication that by now they didn't even need words.

Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

_What's this I hear about a play?_

Haruhi waved her hand dismissively.

_Tamaki's probably going to hold a meeting about it later._

Hikaru shrugged, and they both went back to Hosting.

* * *

As predicted, Tamaki held a meeting. He stood, while everyone sat in a reclining position. Hikaru had his arm thrown around Haruhi's shoulders as he sat in more of a reclining position.

"Well, Boss? What is it?" Hikaru and Kaoru tilted their heads slightly.

"Hang on, I think I can guess." Kaoru smirked, stood up, and faced Hikaru and Haruhi, and cleared his throat. "We have gathered here today to join this man and this woman..."

Hikaru and Haruhi both gave out a noise reminiscent to a squawk and jumped away from one another. Kaoru started laughing, Honey started giggling, and Tamaki started throwing a tantrum.

"Relax, relax, boss, I was only kidding. That's not gonna happen for a long time."_  
_

"It _better _not happen for a long time," Honey said, his bouncy self from before gone. Tamaki cleared his throat and tried to calm down.

"Anyway, I'll just get straight to the point then. We're going to be holding," Here, he struck a dramatic pose. "The Phantom of the Opera musical!"

"Great." Hikaru drawled, scooting back over to Haruhi. "Let me guess, I'm Raoul?"

"On the contrary," Kyoya pushed up his glasses. "You will be the Phantom. In our version, Christine chooses the Phantom over Raoul, so it's naturally fitting. I mean, Haruhi _is_ going to be Christine."

"Wow, how long did it take you to convince her of _that_?"

"Not long, actually." Kyoya smiled menacingly. "You see, blackmail can get you almost anywhere. Keep that in mind, Haruhi, for when you become a lawyer."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. No way was she about to take life advice from the Shadow King. Tamaki told them the plans for the casting.

"That won't work, Tama-chan!" Honey frowned. "I mean, I don't mind being Carlotta, but Chika-chan's going to be at a karate contest on the day Kyo-chan booked it."

"Ah. And Satoshi will be at a kendo contest." Mori said. "Although Amelie might be able to do it. Only if she wants, though."

Tamaki nodded eagerly.

"I've already asked her, and she said yes."

"Oh, really? I thought she was going back to France to visit Eclair-chan, Takashi."

The Hosts had actually befriended Eclair after she had allowed Tamaki to revisit his mother. They had all tagged along, and gotten to know Lady Eclair better. Her trying to take Tamaki away from them had been forgiven. She had apologized profusely, and admitted to them that she was envious of how they all had each other. They would keep in contact, and Honey had even taken a liking to calling her  
"Eclair-chan."

Mori's frowned a little bit.

"No, that won't be happening until a few months after."

"So it's settled then!" Tamaki struck a pose and pointed at the ceiling.

"Hang on, Tamaki," Kyoya shut his notebook that he had been writing in for the past few minutes. "You said Rin would be Madame Giry. Have you consulted with her about that?"

Tamaki's index finger slowly dropped.

"It's alright, senpai," Haruhi's piped up. "Rin told me she would be willing to help."

"Yay!" Tamaki cried. "We'll start rehearsals tomorrow!"

The enthusiasm in Tamaki's voice scared Haruhi, but she quickly brushed it off. After all— it was just a harmless play. Nothing _too _bad could happen.

Haruhi should have known better than to tempt fate.

* * *

**Fun~! this was so fun to write, creating all the Hosts little girlfriends and such. They probably won't play _too _big of a role in the epilogue, except for maybe Amelie and Rin. **

**So, tell me, should I make little spinoff stories with Mori/Amelie and Kyoya/Rin? Tell me, purdy please?**

**I got _so _confused with the names and their pairings. Other than Hikaru and Haruhi, I was all, **

**"RAHH! IS IT KYOYA/AMELIE OR KYOYA/RIN? HANG ON, I THINK MORI WAS WITH RIN!"**

**Then I had the genius idea to go back to the beginning of the chapter and check. **

**You now have the permission to refer to me as The Wise One. -_-**

**But hey, I lied to you guys! Looks like last chapter wasn't the last chapter after all. Oooops... Hey, I didn't know it, I said I might post an epilogue, but I never go through with those things. Please remember that this is only part one of the epilogue. I didn't want you guys having to spend half an hour reading just one chapter, so I broke it up a bit.**

**Anyway, please tell me if you would like me to add some spin off stories with Mori and Amelie or Kyoya and Rin. I'll probably put a poll up for that later, but right now, just tell me through a review or PM, whatever works.**

**Speaking of polls, please vote on the poll on my profile! I want to know whether you guys want a sequel or not.**

******I also need to think up some OCs for Honey, Kaoru, and Tamaki, unless you want Tamaki to end up with "Eclair-chan." Sorry, but I just had to throw her into the story there. ^_^ I feel like she's misunderstood. Back to the topic on hand, if you have any ideas for their lover-ly girlfriends, tell me, 'kay?"**

**I feel like I'm forgetting something... I probably am... Rawr...**

**I'll get back to you guys on that if I remember. I'm probably gonna post this then remember.**

**UPDATE:  
Why thank you for jumping on my head and clawing at me, my darling little Ella! I now recall what I was about to say. ****If anybody wants to use my OCs, go ahead, I would love to see what you do with them. Please just PM me first with the link to your story, so I can read it. Please just tell me first, and tell me which OC you would like to use. Also, credit me, please? I'm going to post more detail on Amelie next chapter, since I didn't even say what she looked like. **

******Anyway, that is all I have to say, so please...**

******REVIEW AND VOTE ON MY POLL AND ALSO TELL ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SPINOFF STORY OR NOT!**

******Hm. That one was a bit longer than usual.**

******~Kit~**


	13. Epilogue: Part Two

**PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT BOTTOM**

* * *

Haruhi gave a small little noise. What in the world did she get herself into?

"And inhale," Amelie said patiently.

Haruhi exhaled.

"I said inhale, sweetheart."

Haruhi inhaled, and Amelie laced another portion of her corset. Haruhi preferred the first month of rehearsals, when she had been singing without having to use a corset.

"And exhale."

Haruhi held her breath. She felt a little guilty for giving Amelie a hard time, but there was no way she was going to wear a corset. However, the ever-patient Amelie had just smirked, flipped her hair, and tugged Haruhi's corset even tighter. Screw dress-rehearsals.

"Hate me all you want, Haruhi, but I can just wait for you to breathe. You'll have to do what I tell you at one point. But really, corsets aren't so bad once you get used to them!"

Easy for her to say. Amelie already had a naturally curvy figure, so she didn't need to wear a corset.

Amelie was a very pretty girl with soft features. She was petite and about as tall as Haruhi, with honey-gold ringlets down to her shoulders. She had wide, emerald green eyes and fair skin. Barely noticeable freckles dotted her button nose, rosy pink lips underneath. She had a tendency to call everyone by pet names, whether she was close to them or not. Haruhi's was "sweetheart." She had come all the way from France to play the part of Meg Giry. Her affectionate and tender personality was what had appealed to Mori when they had first met.

They had met in France, when the Hosts had gone to France with Tamaki to visit his mother. Amelie's mother, a tycoon who had found her own wealth through cake shop franchises, was a good friend of Anne-Sophie's and was over when they had come to visit. Honey had insisted on meeting Amelie (for purposes "unknown") when Anne-Sophie had told them about her. Amelie had been outside in the garden, busy tending to her flowers. She certainly had a green thumb. However, once she met Mori and Honey, she had dropped everything and baked them a cake. Honey had loved it, so he had urged her to come with them and visit the Host Club. She did, and had caused quite a stirring.

For example, she had told Renge off right in front of everybody.

"Honestly, you don't have to scream like that, darling. We all saw the fight between Honey and Chika, we don't need you to narrate," she had said in her French lilt. She had dropped the honorifics as well, already so familiar with Honey and his brother.

Mori's interest in her from before had piqued, so he asked her out on a date. She had been a little skeptical at first, but in the end she agreed. The rest was history.

"There we go," Amelie beamed proudly as she tied off the ends of Haruhi's corset. "All done! You look, ah... _tres magnifique, _Haruhi!"

Haruhi smiled. Her friend still wasn't all that fluent in English.

There was a knock at the door.

"_Entrez_!" Amelie said, helping Haruhi off of the stool she had been standing on. "Enter!"_  
_

Mori opened the door.

"Haruhi, Amelie. We'll be starting soon."

"Very well, _amoureux, _we'll be right out."

Mori smiled fondly at his girlfriend's term of endearment. He was one of the only ones in the Host Club who could understand what she was saying, after he had started taking French lessons from Tamaki.

Pretty soon, Amelie was done with Haruhi's hair. The two of them walked out. Tamaki started to gush about how cute Haruhi looked, when Amelie told him that it would be his fault if he prolonged the rehearsals and Haruhi suffocated from the corset. That shut him up and got him to get on with the practice. Haruhi shot Amelie a grateful glance.

"Alright!" Tamaki said. "Let's get started. Maestro?" Tamaki gestured to the man in the orchestra pit.

"Yes, Suoh-sama."

Haruhi rolled her eyes as the orchestra began playing the overture. Tamaki had flown in the best musicians from around the world. What an idiot.

Honey started singing his part as Carlotta. Although he wasn't really singing in a soprano opera voice, he still managed to stay in pitch. Who could hate Carlotta, though, when she was as tiny as that?

It was Haruhi's part before she knew it. She couldn't exactly reach Christine's part, although they told her she could sing an octave lower. That was still pretty high for Haruhi, although it still sounded good and like a soprano nonetheless.

Tamaki sang his part as Raoul and Haruhi finished up with "Think of Me." She really didn't see the appeal in that song. If you had to tell someone to think of you, then there was no point in telling them. They probably wouldn't change their minds about thinking of you. But then again, they _would _think of you, reminding them to think of you...

Haruhi pondered this over the rest of the song. Before she knew it, it was time for Angel of Music.

"Brava, brava, bravissima..." Hikaru as the Phantom praised in his best baritone voice.

"Christine, Christine..." Meg's silver-bell voice chimed as she lithely flounced first frame, toes pointed, over to Christine.

"Cut! Cut!" Tamaki shrieked, the spell broken. Both girls onstage turned to look at him.

"Amelie, Meg doesn't walk in first frame."

"Yes, she does. And that's how Amelie naturally walks. Do you have a problem with it?" Mori glared daggers at Tamaki, daring him to defy and say another word against his girlfriend.

Tamaki didn't dare.

"May I start again, Suoh-sama?" The maestro inquired as he tried to stifle a laugh.

"Um, yes." Tamaki squeaked. "Let Christine start off first, though."

Haruhi nodded. Tamaki must have gotten serious after Mori's subtle threat. He _was _starting to call her "Christine" instead of "my little girl," now, after all.

"Christine, Christine..." Amelie purred.

"Christine..." Tamaki sang.

"_Where in the world have you been hiding? Really you were perfect... I only wish I knew your secret. Who is this great tutor_?"Amelie looked genuinely curious at this part. _The girl can be an actress_, Haruhi thought.

"Meg, when father died..." Haruhi recited in an excited whisper. Her own acting had gotten better, as well. She continued with the rest of the monologue, then started singing again. "_Father once spoke of an angel... I used to dream he'd appear. Now as I sing I can sense him, and I know he's here. Here in this room, he calls me softly. Somewhere inside, hiding. Somehow I know he's always with me. He, the unseen genius_..."

"_Christine you must have been dreaming... Stories like this can't come true. Christine, you're talking in riddles... and it's not like you." _Amelie crooned.

Rehearsals continued normally, then they took a break at the time intermission would be.

"That was great, Haru-chan!" Honey pounced on Haruhi.

"Yes, Haruhi!" Tamaki waltz over. "I loved the way your eyes seemed lost in thought during Think of Me."

Haruhi didn't bother mentioning that that was because she was thinking about how stupid the song was.

"Thanks, senpai."

"No problem. So... You sang 'All I Ask of You' pretty well." A twinge of regret passed through Tamaki's eyes. Ever-oblivious Haruhi couldn't place it, though. Before she could ask him if he was alright, she was interrupted.

"Suoh-sama!" The maestro beckoned Tamaki over to discuss a few parts of the music. Tamaki excused himself and ran over.

* * *

"That was great, Haruhi." Hikaru put his arm on the small of Haruhi's back and guided her to a couple of seats in the audience.

"Thanks, Hikaru." She smiled at him.

"Mmm... You could tell the other Hosts were jealous. I mean, they did have a... a _thing_ for you once..." Hikaru trailed off, mentally smacking himself upside the head. Haruhi, however, just looked up at him curiously.

"What?"

"Nothing. Forget I said anything." _Smooth move, idiot._

"Hikaru! What was it?"

"Nothing, Haruhi! Really. I'll tell you about it one day, but it doesn't matter today."

Haruhi scowled, and, quite childishly, folded her arms and turned her back to her boyfriend.

"Fine. You haven't heard the end of this conversation, though."

Honestly, she couldn't see why he would keep this from her. It wasn't like it mattered. If the Hosts had had a thing for her... why didn't they just give it to her?

* * *

**Ahem. Sorry for the short chapter and long update, everyone. I took a road trip to the Rockies, then the Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Immediately afterwards I went to a space camp in Hutchinson, Kansas. We went scuba diving. Fun! **

**See, this time I actually have a good reason.**

**Next chapter will be longer.**

**Also, I have posted a little spinoff story to this one. It's set around four years into the future with all the pairings. I swear, I love Amelie too much. The story is called _The Tale of Haruhi, the Host Club, and the Tree. _Go check it out!**

**I recall posting this on the last chapter, but you may use any of my OCs. Please just PM me. Be sure to include which character you're using, what role they will play, and a link to your story. I'd love to see what you do with them. :) Also, you can mix up the pairings. Example: Amelie is with Mori, but if you want her to be with Tamaki, sure, fine, whatever. Have fun.**

**And now, the most important part of my author's note. I get the feeling you'll want to read this.**

**I'm going to be asking a question here shortly. The question will be about my story. I will grant a oneshot request to the first three reviewers who answer correctly. Here are the guidelines:**

**1. ****I will only write oneshots that will be rated K-T. I will not write M stories, because I don't like cussing and I hate writing lemons or limes.**

**2. I will write any genre, any pairing you like, so long as it is not guy/guy or girl/girl. Sorry, but I'm just awkward with that stuff.**

**3. You must submit your answer before I post the next chapter. I will be announcing the winners in Epilogue: Part Three.**

**5. You _are _allowed to go back and look up the answer.**

**4. If you are chosen, you must send me a PM with your idea within two weeks of the winners announcement. Otherwise, I will choose the fourth runner-up.**

**If it takes me a while to write the oneshot, sorry. Just remember, I have two others to write along with yours. Be patient. I will write first place, then second place, then third place. Here is the question: **

**What did the painting in the library symbolize, and what was it a painting of?**

**Good luck, everyone! *hums Jeopardy theme song***

**REVIEW AND ANSWER!**

**~Kit~**


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